By carter melrose
More than talent, there is an indescribable ability few athletes are able to possess — the clutch gene. The ability to, regardless of athleticism, perform acts of sports heroism in the moments that their teams need it the most.
There is no other place in the sport of track where being clutch is more important than the last leg of a relay — the anchor. For sophomore track star Mar’Yea Harris, this trait seems to pour out in every race he competes in.
“Mar’Yea is used to being on elite-level relays,” said Director of Iowa Track and Field Joey Woody.
Harris is one of the strongest 400-meter runners on the team, which means anchoring the 4×400 relay is part of his duties. Knowing that that entails putting his teammates on his back empowers and sharpen Harris.
“It is mainly a trust thing. They trust me, I trust them,” he said.
His anchoring formula goes as such — when receiving the baton, Harris goes at a 90 percent speed until the final backstretch, where he thrives best when the odds are against him.
“Last 50 [meters], I kick,” Harris said. “I’ve run my best splits when I had to run someone down.”
Another anchor athlete for the Iowa track team is senior Alexis Hernandez.
“You have to be a fighter,” Hernandez said. “If you don’t have confidence and there is someone 20 meters ahead of you, you already lost.”
Confidence is possibly the biggest factor in being a dependable anchor and clutch athlete.
“Confidence is confidence, it doesn’t matter if you are out there playing tiddly-winks or competing against the best in the world,” Woody said. “You have to have confidence.”
Confidence is something Harris has plenty of.
“I think I’m personally nice when I get the baton to anchor,” Harris said.
Harris’ confidence and clutch exploits were showcased in last weekend’s Big Ten meet. In the 4×400 relay finals, misfortune reared its ugly head. During the final hand-off, his own teammate’s track spikes punctured Harris’ foot. Harris still went for gold.
“I thought the insole was torn out of my shoe, but when I came around the homestretch, I realized I couldn’t push,” Harris said.
Harris knew his team was counting on him and in clutch fashion finished second in the race, all while having an injury that later in the week would cause him to walk with a limp.
This effort was still good enough to garner the best time in Iowa school history — the same record that the relay has now broken twice in a calendar month (the first time at the Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville, Arkansas, on Feb. 11.
“I looked down, my shoe was red and four of my toes were hanging out,” Harris said. “No wonder I couldn’t push.”
No wonder, considering half his spike was colored red from the gash on his toes, and his footwear suddenly had support relative to what Nelly’s character in The Longest Yard started out with on his feet.
Harris will have one final indoor opportunity to show off his clutch gene at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships on March 10 in College Station, Texas.
“We’ll get them in Nationals,” Harris said.