A BRILLIANT STUDENT and a brilliant teacher. Lauren Harris, 26, is the student. Maria Michta-Coffey, 39, is her teacher.
The New York State combination put its dual talents to work in the national racewalk — 20,000m (50 laps) — early Saturday to get day 3 of the USATF Champs off to a recordbreaking start at Hayward Field.
Harris, the Marist College alumn now a mathematics teacher at Long Island’s Center Moriches HS, took the lead in the very first strides and went on to a resounding 1:31:23.7 victory, a U.S. track record for the 20 (12.4M), topping her own 1:31:50.4 at Chula Vista on June 22 as a USA best. Michta-Coffey — aka MMC — with her road performance of 1:30:40 in Taicang, China, in ’14 — is the only American woman ever to walk the distance faster than Harris did at Hayward.
“I owe so much to Maria,” said Harris. “She’s always been my inspiration.”
Now they’re awaiting final WA notice to set their travel plans.
Team USA is expected to have 4 women walking in Tokyo: Harris in the road 20K, Michta-Coffey, Katie Burnett and Miranda Melville in the road 35K.
With Nick Christie hoping to walk the men’s 35K, all this represents great news for USA walk fans who saw their national team totally blanked for spots in Paris.
The women’s 20 here was a walkaway. The sunglassed Harris covered her first circuit in 1:50.9, maintained the hot pace throughout, and left her top challengers lagging far behind.
Harris clicked off metronomic laps at sub-1:50 pace and would eventually cross the line more than a mile ahead.
The veteran MMC, holder of a doctorate in microbiology, a mom of two — and the wife of her own coach, Joe Coffey — held on for 2nd in 1:39:56.8, with Burnett 3rd (1:40:35.2) and Melville 4th (1:41:12.3).
Burnett, with her 4th in the ’17 London Worlds 50K, remains the closest-ever American to a WC walks podium.
Harris had been a star high schooler on Long Island — where racewalking is a standard scoring event during the prep indoor season — and continued making major strides at Marist, one of the few non-NAIA schools in the nation to support its walkers.
But it took a little while to get untracked as a post-collegian.
Her convincing win in the USATF Indoor 3000 this winter was a clear signal that the baton of American walk leadership had been passed. And this one in Eugene was an exclamation point.
WOMEN’S 20K WALK RESULTS
(August 02; road)
1. Lauren Harris (WUSA) 1:31:23.7 AR (old AR 1:31:50.4 Harris ’25);
2. Maria Michta-Coffey (Ois/WUSA) 1:39:56.8;
3. Katie Burnett (Harrier) 1:40:35.2;
4. Miranda Melville (NYAC) 1:41:12.3;
5. Angelica Harris (unat) 1:46:42.9 PR;
6. Lydia McGranahan (unat) 1:48:14.1;
7. Stephanie Casey (unat) 1:48:50.6;
8. Ruby Ray (WUSA) 1:52:58.5;
9. Katie Miale (NEWalk) 1:53:51.1;
… dq—Izabelle Trefts (unat).
