Harris won three events in the dual against Ohio State (Michigan Media Relations)

1. Congratulations on a fine start to the season. Are you surprised on how fast you've gone out of the gate considering we're not even into February yet?

Actually I was very surprised. Every season, the time I end with in the 60 is usually the time I begin the following year with. With all of my training leading into conditioning and with conditioning I kind of knew that I could run a faster time than I ended with last year because I felt faster and was in better shape going into workouts. freshman year I ended with 6.77- began my sophomore year with 6.77, ended my sophomore year with 6.71- so figured i'd go the same time or faster.

2. As noted being so early in the season, how will you maintain your speed in training so that it doesn't taper off come March?

I think I should be able to maintain my speed with the workouts, lifting schedules, and the way the rest of my indoor seasons is planned out. (I'm not going to be running the 60 in a couple upcoming meets, but focusing more on the 200, which should help with maintaining speed as well as endurance. As long as I stay healthy I don't think that maintaining my speed will be that much of a problem.

3. This past weekend you were a part of three winning events in helping Michigan defeat Ohio State at home. How exciting was it to compete in such a meet?

That was one of the best meets I've ever been a part of. The level of competition between both schools was overwhelming. As you know this is one of the biggest rivalries in NCAA history and this meet shows that it's not only in football. We knew it was going to be a battle for the pendant and it was going to be a close fight. It was the most team bonding I've ever seen at a track meet in both U of M and OSU. Everyone was cheering for everyone else because their team knew they needed every point they could get- especially with the scoring system we had for the meet. We have to battle for the pendant again in the outdoor season, but we'll be on OSU's turf. Should be another great battle.

4. Your family has a rich tradition in sports, including your father who competed in football, track and basketball for Wheaton College from 1960-63. Your brother and sister also compete at the NCAA Division I level. How much have they meant to you in terms of learning on how to balance out everything there is in being a student-athlete?

They have been telling me since day one that school is the most important thing in college life especially for a student-athlete. Not only my family has been telling me this but also my high school coaches. Being at such a prestigious college, it's a bonus to be on the track team. Plus it's better to put school first because if you're not doing your thing in the classes, then it's hard to get out there on the track because you'd be stressed out by school. I do my best to get my school work out of the way, so this way when I'm on the track I can focus completely on what I need to do down the straightaway rather than what assignment is due tomorrow.

5. As a seven-time Illinois state champion in high school, what led you to enroll at Michigan and how much have you learned during your first two-and-a-half years on campus?

From the Coaches to the team and even the cheesy James Earl Jones "Welcome to the University of Michigan video" video, since those times, I knew that I would fit into Michigan just fine. I came up on my visit here and right away I clicked with my soon to be teammates and the coaches had a good history in track with themselves and athletes, so it almost felt like another home right away. I've been through a lot in my first two-and-a-half years here. it's been anything from meeting new interesting people to some of the hardest classes I've had to some of the easiest classes I've had. Being at such a great place, it's hard to stay focused on track and school at some points because there's so many more opportunities and events that make you want to just take the day off. But like everyone has told me...school does need to come first.

6. Looking ahead to the outdoor season, what are some of your goals and expectations that you'd like to meet?

It's hard to set goals thus far for outdoor because I'm still trying to focus mainly on the remainder of the indoor season. But as for past seasons, I've been satisfied as long as I run a faster time than the previous year. I'm actually satisfied right now with my 6.64 and it's great that I'm one of the kids that the other athletes are trying to take down, but it's always nicer to go a little faster. It's just going to be nice to finally get to a national meet. As for outdoor, my goal's just to move my legs a little faster to go under my previous best of 10.35 and hopefully get to the big show one more time.

7. Many sprinters find the plyometric and weight room exercises helpful for their start. What do you find benefits you the most for being a quick starter?

Getting the most power and fast twitch muscles twitchin. Our whole teams in the weight room working on getting more weight on the lifts some days then spending other days working on less weight and more speed. I found that this benefits a bunch, because jumping up with that weight on my back is only making me more powerful without the weight on my back out the blocks. Plyos are great and also do help, but I'm more of a work hard in the weight room guy which may be a downfall one day considering I'm only 5'8 and 185 lbs- a bit heavier than I would like to be.

8. Michigan is like any other Midwest state that has to deal with the colder weather during the later part of the spring season. Do you find it necessary to travel to more warm-weather locations to get better performances out of your events?

It's not necessary, but it's great to get out of the cold Midwest weather every once in a while. It does effect the warming up a bit, but during the race and depending on how cold it really is everything is mostly the same. As long as I can warm up in some heat and get straight to the track before the race, the times should be somewhat near the same...maybe I'm just use to the weather...but I would rather be anywhere else than the 9 degree weather of Ann Arbor right now.

9. What events will you be competing in at the Simmons/Harvey Invitational this weekend?

At the invitation I will only be competing in the Long Jump and the 4x4 because my coach wants to give me some time off from the 60, and I'm not going to complain because it's nice to take a little break from the 60 and I'm not a big fan of 200's on flat 200 meter tracks.

10. Over the next three weekends, you'll be competing on several oversized tracks at Akron and Notre Dame, along with perhaps the fastest banked track at Arkansas. How much are you looking forward to competing in the 200 meters at these facilities?

I'm looking forward to it a bunch, because I can barely turn on a flat 200 meter track, and I know that these are great facilities where a lot of pretty sick times have been posted. I won't be running the 200 at Notre Dame, but that will be the next meet that I run the 60. I'm excited for that because this will be the first meet where I will only run the 60 and my legs won't be tired from long jumping. Plus I ran there last year and Demi Omole ran 6.55 in the lane to my left and being a part of that and with fresh legs, I'm looking to drop my time a couple more hundreths.

11. How do you like to spend your free time?

I'm a huge speed freak. If you catch me outside of track, I'm doing something that involves speed. I'm either on a motorcycle or racing my car at the track. I spend a lot upgrading my car or watching videos online of cars and motorcycle racing. But when I'm not thinking of something speed related then I'm probably thinking about breakdancing. I've been breakdancing since the 7th grade and I've been known to cut a little rug in my day.