Princeton University Athletics
Tora Harris - the Nation's Best
March 08, 2002 | Men's Track and Field
March 8, 2002
Fayetteville, Ark. - Tora Harris (Sr., Atlanta, Ga.) entered the competition with the nation's top mark in the high jump, he leaves Arkansas as the 2002 NCAA National Champion. Harris' 2.26m (7'-5") leap earned the seven-time heptagonal champion his first national title and made him Princeton's first individual track and field NCAA champion since Dave Pellegrini '80 in 1980.
"I came here to compete," says Harris. "I knew if I did what I had to, it wouldn't matter who I was up against. I'm happy to be here representing Princeton, as well as the Ivy League, competing against some of the best athletes in the world."
Harris, who took time off in 1999-2000 to train for the Olympics, is three-time All-America at the 1998, 1999, 2001 outdoor championships. Entering today's national finals, Harris was only one of two athletes in the United States to clear 2.25m (7'-4.5" ft), the top mark in the nation. Adam Shunk of North Carolina also cleared 2.25m earlier this winter. Today, Shunk finished in second place, clearing 2.23m (7'-3.75"). At the 2001 NCAA outdoor championships, Harris placed fourth clearing 2.14m (7'-4.25") and third at the 2001 University Games clearing 7'-5"ft. Harris' 2.26m (7'-5") is a new Princeton record, breaking his own record set earlier this season.
"Tora is a great NCAA champion, an unbelievable athlete and a wonderful representative of Princeton," says head coach Fred Samara. "He's worked so hard for four years and now he's achieved this."
Pellegrini captured the 35lbs. weight throw national title in 1980 with a distance of 69'-3.5", a distance that remains the Princeton record to this day.
"In a word, 'Wow!" said assistant coach Mike Brady. "To think of all the schools and the caliber of the athletes competing, it's amazing."
Please click here for complete High Jump Results