Isabella Harmon of Scarborough clears the bar in the high jump at the SMAA track and field championship on May 29 in Windham. Harmon won with a best jump of 5 feet, 5 inches. (Brianna Soukup/Staff Photographer)

When asked if she prefers indoor or outdoor track, Isabella Harmon took a few seconds to think. 

The recent Scarborough graduate, who was named Varsity Maine Indoor Track Athlete of the Year in February, excelled in both throughout her high school career. 

“I usually would say outdoor, but I think this year I liked indoor more, just because all the events are so close together, I don’t have to run around as much,” said Harmon, laughing. “And the weather is always the same. No rain. Great.”

Harmon spent most of the Class A championship meet in June moving way from one side of Bangor’s Cameron Stadium complex to the other, competing in several events at once. 

“It definitely can get stressful,” Harmon said. “It used to be a lot worse. Freshman, sophomore year, I would get so stressed about it. I would be like, ‘Oh, my God, I’m going to run out of time.’ But now, honestly, I’m so used to it, and I get used to the running back and forth, and sometimes it’s an advantage because I don’t really think about it — I just kind of go over and do it and get it over with, and I can’t overthink it.”

Her frequent back-and-forth travels paid off when she won the high jump and 100-meter hurdles and placed second in the pole vault, pacing Scarborough to its second state championship in three years. 

Just seven days later, Harmon finished first in the high jump and sixth in the pole vault at the New England championships. Those performances are among the many reasons why she’s the Varsity Maine Girls Track and Field Athlete of the Year, after also winning the Maine Gatorade Girls Track and Field Athlete of the Year award.

“Obviously, I went into the season wanting to go out on a good note and head into college with some momentum, and getting that last state championship with the girls was amazing, and winning Gatorade Player of the Year was obviously really awesome and great, and I looked forward to that so much,” Harmon said. “And it was a great way to end the year.”

Scarborough’s Isabella Harmon, center, races to a first-place finish in the 100-meter hurdles final in a time of 15.49 at the Class A championship meet on June 6 in Bangor. (Rich Abrahamson/Staff Photographer)<?xml version="1.0"?> Purchase this image

Denise Curry, who coached Harmon for four years at Scarborough, considered her the team’s “Swiss Army Knife” – someone who could excel in almost every event up to the 400.

“(Harmon) is one of those athletes that coaches dream about,” Curry said. “Does all the workouts, never misses practices, probably goes above and beyond maybe a little too much sometimes. Doing all her events, she sometimes has two practices a day, plus does good in school.”

Even as a senior, Harmon still carried that above-and-beyond mindset, to the extent that she had to convince Curry to let her compete in the long jump.

“I begged her to put me in it and she kept saying no and no and no,” Harmon said. “And then she knew the state championship was going to be close, and she was like, ‘Fine. If you can jump 17 feet in practice, I’ll let you do it.’ And I jumped 17 feet in practice, so then she had to do it.”

Harmon finished fifth in the long jump at the state meet, further cementing her status as one of Maine’s most accomplished track and field athletes. 

“(Harmon) always comes through at all the key, important meets,” Curry said. “She has the competitive edge that inside, even if she doesn’t feel that great, it’s amazing what she pulls off. She’s got this inner energy and stamina and that drive to win that’s so helpful for her teammates to see and learn from.”

Harmon will head to the University of Connecticut, where she will continue her track and field career. 

“I’m super excited to join that program,” Harmon said. “So grateful for the opportunity, and I can’t wait to see, hopefully, PRs that will come in and all the new connections I will make.”