Grant Harrison chose Kentucky over a long list of schools including BYU, Louisville, Alabama, and Indiana. Photo provided.
Grant Harrison won the DII state championship last spring and owns the Division II state record in the pole vault. Photo provided.
Photo provided.
Over the last few years, there have been countless individual athletes who have shined in Clermont County.
But in my eyes, one stands above the rest, and that’s New Richmond senior Grant Harrison.
Harrison is one of the best pole vaulters in the country. His personal best jump of 17 feet and one inch is an Ohio Division II state record. He won the Division II state championship last spring as a junior.
Colleges were predictably coming from everywhere to try and grab a stellar athlete like him. He narrowed his options down to BYU, Kentucky, Indiana, Alabama, and Louisville.
On Nov. 13, he made his decision. He will be taking his talents to the University of Kentucky.
Multiple current and former members of the Kentucky track and field program competed at the Olympics this past summer.
Keaton Daniel, a member of the Wildcats’ program, also won the National Championship in the pole vault this past spring.
Harrison feels like he is joining an elite program and institution, one that will also support him academically.
“I think UK is one of the best, if not the best track program in the country. I think they have good support for athletes, so I think they’re gonna make it very easy for me to be successful in school as well, and set me up to have a good career after pole vault,” he described.
He plans on studying marketing and sales.
Harrison, along with 2024 graduate Samantha Ringhand, have helped put the New Richmond track and field program on the map not just at the state level, but also nationally.
Ringhand finished in second place last spring at the Division II state championship.
The Lions’ pole vault coach is Mark Weitzel, who is known as the “pole vault whisperer.”
He can’t say enough good things about Harrison as an athlete and a person.
“He has been nothing but remarkable and exceptional since day one. It’s not often that a young athlete comes to you and you see the potential almost immediately. He’s got all the tools needed that elite athletes possess. Speed, strength, stamina, competence, discipline, motivation, and the mental toughness to handle all the adversity with sports like that,” Weitzel explained.
Weitzel also has seen improvement from Harrison throughout his career, on and off the track.
“He’s become more humble, more appreciative, more driven, and more personal.”
Since his freshman year, Harrison has improved his personal best jump by over five feet.
He has plenty left to accomplish as a Lion before he heads to Lexington. Another state title, and possibly even moving to the top of the pole vault list in the entire country are things that are well within his grasp.
Although his individual accomplishments are important to him, that’s not all he cares about. Leaving the New Richmond track and field program in a better place than he found it means everything to him.
“I just hope that my success brings more light to track at New Richmond. I can see that it already is a little bit. I want New Richmond to be winning state in the future. We’re a small town, but we have athletes who are very capable of doing big things. I just think that they’ve not been motivated until now in the community. I want the community to support New Richmond Athletics as much as they have supported me.”
Keep an eye on Harrison and the entire New Richmond track program moving forward. They are building something special.