“I enjoy it,” he said following Tuesday night’s East-West All-Star Game at UNC-Greensboro. “But there’s still the kid in me who would like to go up to school and kick (a football), obviously, and play more sports.”
Whether he was playing football, swimming or running track during his prep career, Harrow always had the desire to compete.
“If I could have, I would have fit a few more sports in there,” he said.
But it was in soccer that Harrow, an in-your-face defender, landed a scholarship and a spot on the team at Appalachian State. He reports for duty Aug. 6, and has been busy preparing for his first college season.
“I’m excited,” he said.
A three-time all-region soccer selection, Harrow was picked to the all-state team and was the IMeck Conference Player of the Year as a senior last fall, while also handling the Vikings’ kickoff and long field goal duties on Friday nights. He ran middle distance events in track as a junior, then swam as a senior. His versatility and overall athleticism led North football coach Mike Bradley to often refer to him as one of the best athletes in the school. Had he not been bound for a college soccer field and only played football, Bradley said Harrow could have been a great wide receiver or safety.
Polk County soccer coach Lennox Charles, who coached Harrow on the West team this week, said he didn’t know what to expect from Harrow when he first saw the 6-foot-1, 180-pounder step on the field.
“You look at his big size, and you tend to think somebody that big and strong is not necessarily quick, not necessarily skilled,” said Charles. “But he dispels all of that.”
Charles was especially impressed with the deep kicks Harrow, a lefty, served up from the back during the match that ended in a 2-2 tie (no extra time was played).
“That left foot, I tell you, I would’ve loved to have had that in high school,” said Charles.
It appeared Tuesday that Harrow and the West might cruise to a victory after game MVP David Reittinger (Northwest Guilford) and Brayan Aguirre (Hendersonville) scored goals less than four minutes apart early in the second half, staking the West to a 2-0 lead. But the East team’s Matthew MacDougall (Richlands) and Andrew Morales (Rocky Mount) scored back-to-back goals in just more than two minutes to tie it for good with 10 minutes left.
Harrow was the first East-West selection in boys soccer from North Meck since the Vikings had multiple selections to the annual game for three straight seasons, including Matt Elliott and Just in List in 2006, Adam Hatem and Alex Moreno in 2007 and Michael Kohlmeir and Matt Horn in 2008.
Harrow said he was privileged to take part in the game that featured many top players he knew from across the state.
“When you are at an event like this, you expect the competition to be at the level it was at,” he said.
Following the game, Charles wished Harrow luck and said he would be checking in on him at the next level.
“I think he’ll be able to hold his own,” said Charles. “With his ball-handling and the way he serves, I don’t think he will have any trouble fitting in.”
