South Carolina football wide receiver Nyck Harbor is, as most who follow the team know, a dual-sport athlete. The 6'5", 240-pound dynamo also runs track for the Gamecocks, and he has been one of the top freshmen in the nation this season.
Harbor's efforts this spring have resulted in his qualification for the NCAA East Regionals, and he and the rest of the South Carolina track and field qualifiers began competing in Lexington, Kentucky on Wednesday.
In the Regionals, athletes competed for their chance to advance to the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Oregon.
If someone would have told Gamecock fans that Nyck Harbor was headed to Oregon a year ago, they wouldn't have liked to hear that as the Ducks and 'Cocks were the final two teams involved in his recruitment. But this weekend, the South Carolina football rising sophomore punched his ticket to the Pacific Northwest and the NCAA Championships in just his freshman track season.
During the East Regionals, Harbor ran personal bests in both the 100-meter sprint and the 200-meter sprint. He ran a ridiculous 10.11 in the 100-meter (a top-10 mark in the nation and the 3rd-fastest time in program history), qualifying him for the NCAA Championships in that event. He also logged a 20.20 in the 200-meter (another top-10 mark in the nation and the 2nd-best time in school history), qualifying for the NCAA Championships in that event AND qualifying for Olympic trials this summer.
Harbor's 20.20 in the 200-meter was well below the 20.30 time necessary for automatic qualifying for the Olympic trials. He is not quite there with his 100-meter time but still has a chance of qualifying based on his comparison to other sprinters.
The NCAA Championships in Eugene will take place from June 5th-8th. The Olympic trials also will be in Eugene, Oregon and will take place from June 21st-30th.