When Lee Harris '23 woke up Friday, he hoped it would be a good day.
"I woke up and felt pretty good," Harris said. "I knew what was on the agenda for the day, and mentally and physically, I was ready."
That agenda included a tennis match as a part of the boys' regional championship and four running events at the regional championship meet.
The day began in the early afternoon on the tennis courts, with things not going exactly as scheduled. A match expected to be held outside at Lausanne was moved to Memphis University School (MUS), with Harris losing the first three games and dropping the first set 6-2. After that, Harris would take the second and third sets (6-3, 6-2) to win the match.
"I was running across the court for every point in a tough matchup," Harris said. "Grinding out a tough win helped set me up for the rest of the day."
From there, Harris headed to the training room, iced up, ate a bar of chocolate and, jumped in the car and headed across town to Harding for the regional track & field championships, where he was scheduled to run in the 100m, 4x200m relay, 4x100m relay and 200m relay.
Harris wasted no time punching his first ticket to state, jumping out to an early lead and pulling away to win the 100m with a time of 11.08.
"I got out well and was pleased with that," Harris said. "But I also know there is room for improvement there as I head to state."
Harris would continue his success as a member of the 4x200m ad 4x100m relay team, with both teams winning regional titles and qualifying for the state meet later this month. The 4x200m team even set a region record with a time of 1:30.09.
Amidst all that came a text that the boy's tennis team had defeated USJ 4-0 and qualified for the first round of the state tournament as the #1 seed.
"It has been a good day," Harris said. "I look forward to a little rest before tennis starts next week. We have work to do there to repeat as state champions."
With tennis and track state championships occurring on the same day in a couple of weeks, Harris faces the possibility of another marathon day. Friday, he said he proved to himself he could do it.
"I proved to myself I can do it," Harris said. "So I am looking forward to doing it again at state."