When
Matt Harlfinger broke his arm in the eighth grade, he wasn’t thinking
about running track. To a solid baseball player like Harlfinger, the
broken arm just meant he wasn’t going to be taking the field anytime
soon. He was introduced to running track by some friends, started working
with the SouthSide Pioneers since their inception in 2002, and began
moving up the ranks in high school. He became the top hurdler for both
the Pioneers and the Panthers in his senior year and decided to continue
his track career in college.
At Starr’s Mill, Harlfinger earned varsity letters all four years
in cross country and track, broke the school records in the 110 and
300 meter hurdles as well as the sprint medley and shuttle hurdle relays
and was captain of the track and field team and team MVP as a senior.
“I was just really having fun my senior year of high school,” said
Harlfinger, now a rising sophomore at Western Carolina University. “I
wanted to pursuit more goals in collegiate track.”
As a college freshman, Harlfinger competed in the heptathlon indoors
and the decathlon outdoors. In the conference meets, both indoor and
outdoor, Harlfinger placed fourth. The heptathlon features the 60 meter
dash, the 60 meter hurdles, the 1,000 meter run, the long jump, the high
jump, pole vault, and the shot put. The decathlon includes the 100, 400
and 1,500 meter runs, the 110 hurdles, pole vault, high jump, long jump,
shot put, discus, and javelin. He was the highest scoring freshman in
the conference in those events and is the second best decathlete on the
team. One of the biggest surprises for Harlfinger was his success in
the pole vault, one of the events in the decathlon.
“I never pole vaulted in high school and I got pretty good, going
14’ after two months of training,” said Harlfinger.
Among Harlfinger’s goals for his collegiate career are to make
the nationals by his senior year. In the meantime, he has returned
home for the summer to help coach hurdles for the Pioneers.
“I was always promised a hurdle coach when I was with the team
and never got one,” said Harlfinger. “It’s nice to give
something back.” Harlfinger coaches six girls and four guys of all
ages. One of his former Starr’s Mill teammates, Kristin Olsen,
is now one of the athletes he coaches. She was 52nd in the nation last
year
and four of the top five youth girls in the Area 4 USATF meet are coached
by Harlfinger as well. He also gets to share his knowledge with his
younger brother, Andrew.
“He e-mailed us and asked if he could come back and coach this
summer,” said Danielle Mathis, head of the Pioneers. “He sees
the team like his family and he likes coaching. It’s his thing.”
Harlfinger and the Pioneers practice three nights a week and then compete
in meets every weekend. Though he has yet to declare a major, Harlfinger
is looking to get into sports management and physical therapy. He will
return to school on August 21 and is looking forward to another successful
year as a Western Carolina Catamount.
For more information on the SouthSide Pioneers, phone 678-595-8470 or
e-mail to ssidepioneers@netzero.com.
When
Matt Harlfinger broke his arm in the eighth grade, he wasn’t thinking
about running track. To a solid baseball player like Harlfinger, the
broken arm just meant he wasn’t going to be taking the field anytime
soon. He was introduced to running track by some friends, started working
with the SouthSide Pioneers since their inception in 2002, and began
moving up the ranks in high school. He became the top hurdler for both
the Pioneers and the Panthers in his senior year and decided to continue
his track career in college. 
