Razorbacks’ Harter still gets rush from running

FAYETTEVILLE — Seems even the most devoted to Arkansas wouldn’t December stroll Hawaiian beaches eagerly anticipating an Ozarks winter.

A winter highlighted by Fayetteville in February and concluded marched in March to Birmingham, Ala.

Yet those were Lance Harter’s thoughts as the Razorbacks head women’s track coach and his wife, Kim, celebrated Christmas vacation in Hawaii.

“It’s really nice to be in Hawaii,” Harter said. “It’s Paradise. But I really looked forward to getting back and being with the kids and getting started on this season. This is an exceptional team.”

At an age when many have retired or at least contemplate retirement, Harter in Hawaii contemplated gearing his now officially nationally No. 1 indoor track and field Razorbacks towards February in Fayetteville winning the program’s 14th consecutive SEC championship for cross country, indoor and outdoor track. In Birmingham, Harter’s Razorbacks aim to add the NCAA Indoor championships to the national championship his teams won at the 2015 Indoor and 2016 Outdoor.

“I’m 68, almost 69, and I look forward to going to work every day,” Harter said. “Even though a lot of times it seems 24/7 7-days a week.”

The championships speak for themselves, and he cites an even higher calling.

“I get so much joy even out of kids who may never make it to the NCAA or even the SEC meet, but the experience they gained,” Harter said. “We had a couple of kids from med school come back this weekend. They talked about how tough it is, and they said ‘What we learned in the sport helped us prepare for the overwhelming schedule and keeping your focus and handling setbacks and the tactics of handling situations.’ They are going to be really successful.”

Field events coach Bryan Compton, whose string of All-Americans/ Olympic pole vaulters render him the most successful collegiate women’s pole vault coach ever, and sprints coach/associate head coach Chris Johnson, the ultra-successful Arkansas successor to the ultra-successful Lonnie Greene, the past Purdue and now Kentucky head coach, share similar experiences with their athletes on victory podiums and off the track that Harter experiences with his cross country and track distance runners.

“The philosophy that I have is shared by my assistants, and that flows over to the athletes,” Harter said. “The importance of the team and being surrounded by people that have the same passion for the sport that you have, I think it has become self perpetuating.”

It perpetuates track and field alumni nationally and internationally alerting their old coaches to new talent.

“Our alumni have been our greatest recruiting tool,” Harter said. “To have all those eyes all over the world is a blessing.”

Apparently without ego, Harter, Johnson and Compton function as head coaches of their areas with Harter the scholarship divvying decider.

“Now we may debate, but it’s never a conflict,” Harter said. “It’s always what’s best for the program.”

It’s 13 times consecutively worked best in the SEC. Come March it might work best in the country.