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Harrison Schrage looking for big things in 2016 - Feature

Published by
DyeStat.com   Jan 20th 2016, 4:53pm
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A healthy Schrage expects big things in 2016 

 

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor


 

In the aftermath of a 2015 pock-marked by injury, Harrison Schrage of Portland, Ore. underwent surgery and glumly wondered if he'd ever be able to run and compete in track and field again. 

 

For Schrage, a three-time state Oregon Class 6A champion in the long jump, that was a daunting prospect. At 6-2, 190 and blessed with athletic gifts, the Grant High senior has always identified as a long jumper first. 

 

Last weekend at the Arkansas High School Invitational, Schrage jumped a nation-leading 24 feet, 11.25 inches. 

 

That was a big achievement for a number of reasons. It confirmed for Schrage that he is healthy enough to have a big senior year. It was exactly two inches shy of Jordan Kent's all-time Oregon outdoor best from 2001. And it was a strong result for Schrage at the university that he committed to last fall. 

 

"I've never felt better," Schrage said early this week. "The marks I was hitting in training, all of it is indicating that there are big things to come this season."

 

Schrage has been the top jumper in a small state for years. And he was fifth and third the past two years, respectively, at New Balance Nationals Indoor. 

 

He expected to build upon his former PR of 24-3 throughout the spring, but a nagging pain in his ankle proved to be debilitating. When he went to the doctor Schrage found out that he had something called Os Trigonum Syndrome. Essentially, it was pain and irritation caused by a small little extra bone in the back of his ankles that was rubbing on the Achilles' tendon and other tissues.

 

A week after gritting out a third state title in the long jump last May, Schrage underwent surgery to have that extra bone -- called an os trigonum -- removed from his left (takeoff) ankle. 

 

"I have (the extra bone) in both ankles," Schrage explained. "One of them doesn't matter. It only hurts if you have a lot of stress on it. The (takeoff) ankle pinches when you point your foot."

 

Schrage recovered quickly after the operation. He spent some time in a wheelchair, mostly so that his friends could push him around. Then he used crutches for a while and then was 2-3 weeks in a boot. He was able to play his third season of varsity soccer for Grant in the fall. 

 

It was also during that stretch of time that Schrage made his choice for the University of Arkansas.

 

"It just felt good when I was being recruited (there)," Schrage said. "Obviously I had to explain to coaches from top tier track schools about my injury. A PR of 24-3 is not going to get them too excited. I had to tell them I was injured and that there are big things coming, I promise."

 

Schrage also ran an indoor PR of 7.03 in the 60 meters at Arkansas, a sign that he could surpass his outdoor best of 10.87 in the 100 meters. He has a triple jump best of 47-7.25 but said he would primarily compete there only for the sake of team points. 

 

Kent's Oregon record has always had a bit of a cloud over it because of an officiating mistake. The mark is considered the all-time state best but it is not the official state meet record. The wind-guage operator during the state meet, where Kent made the jump, did not take a reading on the state's first 25-foot jump. There was discussion about whether to assign the same wind reading as a 100 meters prelim that was happening in the same direction about 30 seconds before Kent's jump (which was legal). But instead the jump went into the record book as nwi (no wind indicated) despite the fact that it was calm. 

 

If Schrage, whose father and uncle were state meet caliber jumpers at Grant in the 1980s,  exceeds 25-1.25 outdoors he can render all of those details moot. 

 

Schrage believes he can go well past Kent's mark.

 

"It should be a lot of fun this year," he said. "We'll see how things go. These last couple of years with injuries and trying to get recruited at the same time, I thought too much about numbers and distances and marks. I just want to go out there and have fun and jump far."



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