March 10, 2007

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Navy men's track & field junior middle distance runner Paul Harris (Woodbury, Minn.) claimed All-America honors in the 800-meter run with his sixth-place finish during the finals at the NCAA Championship on Saturday evening at the Randal Tyson Track Center.

Harris becomes Navy's first All-American in the 800-meter run and the program's first All-American performer since Erik Schmidt brought home the honors in the mile run at the 2004 national championship.

"This wasn't the usual race, but was a lot of fun," said Harris. "It definitely feels great to earn All-America honors, especially after finishing 23rd at last year's outdoor national championship."

Harris added, "I was really excited to run with some great runners. I tried to put myself into a positive mindset, focusing on my race and running how I normally do."

The Navy junior ran the event in 1:50.02, the third-fastest time in school history. Harris currently owns the four-quickest indoor 800-meter run times in school history. He finished 1.62 seconds behind national champion Ryan Brown's 1:48.40 time from Washington.

"Everyone in the stadium knew he was going to lead," stated Navy assistant coach Al Cantello. "He has a signature race and he went out and led the first-400 meters. With this being the national championship, the pack caught up to him and he tightened up a little bit. He was able to regain his composure near the end, but by that point, it was too late."

Harris advanced to the NCAA Championship 800-meter run finals following a second-place showing during his preliminary heat on Friday afternoon. He crossed the finish line in 1:48.91 during that race, only 0.33-second off Jamaal James' first-place clocking from LSU.

The product of Woodbury, Minn., qualified for this year's national championship with a 1:48.46 showing at the Iowa State Classic on Feb. 9. The showing established a new school record by more than two full seconds and ranked third among the accepted qualifying runners for this year's championship.

During the 2006 outdoor season, Harris became the first Navy runner in 61 years to compete in the national championship in the 800-meter/800-yard run. He finished 23rd during the preliminary round.

Navy will open its 2007 outdoor season next Saturday, March 17, when it heads to San Diego, Calif., for the Point Loma Invitational.

2007 NCAA INDOOR TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIP
March 10, 2007
Randal Tyson Track Center
Fayetteville, Ark.
800-meter Run Finals

    Name                    Year School                  Finals  Points=======================================================================  1 Ryan Brown                SR Washington             1:48.40   10  2 Andrew Ellerton           SR Michigan               1:48.55    8  3 Kyle Smith                SR Northern Iowa          1:49.09    6  4 Austin Abbott             JR Washington             1:49.65    5  5 Jamaal James              FR LSU                    1:49.69    4  6 Paul Harris               JR Navy                   1:50.02    3  7 Shaun Smith               JR Oral Roberts           1:50.41    2  8 Thomas Chamney            SR Notre Dame             1:50.74    1