Set apart by heart

Hunter Harwell could have chosen any number of words to summarize his high school running career. 

Unbelievable. Unpredictable. Unforgettable. 

All could apply to his five-year stint in the Mountain Brook High School distance program. 

Instead, the Spartans’ senior selected another term to describe his time donning the green and gold. 

“It’s been a journey,” said Harwell, standing trackside after his first meet of the indoor season. 

What a journey it has been. 

Since joining the varsity squad for its postseason run in 2014, when he was only an eighth-grader, Harwell has summited peaks and endured valleys en route to becoming one of the top runners Mountain Brook has ever seen. 

At November’s state cross-country meet, he completed the 5K race in 15 minutes, 25.27 seconds. No Spartan in recent history has run faster. 

“His hard work is something that I can’t replace,” Spartans coach Michael McGovern said. “But more than anything, I tell everybody I really wish I could put his heart into every kid we have, because like I said, he hates to lose.”

That much is clear. In his first competition of the indoor season, at December’s Holiday Invitational, Harwell outlasted his nearest competitor in the 1,600 meters thanks to a furious finish. He leaned at the line. 

“About 400 to go, I started kicking hard,” he said. 

But Harwell’s disdain for losing pales in comparison to his disdain for giving up and giving in. Many times he could have. 

In eighth grade, doctors performed a procedure to remove the navicular bone from his left foot. In ninth grade, he strained his hamstring. In 10th grade, he fractured the navicular bone in his right foot. 

“That’s been the big part,” Harwell said. “It’s been hard for me to stay healthy through track.”

He finally did last spring. 

After helping the Spartans cross-country team end a six-year title drought in November 2017, Harwell continued his upward trajectory through the rest of the school year. 

He finished third in the 1,600 at the state indoor meet and second at the state outdoor meet, lowering his personal best to 4:22.2. 

“He’s got kind of sneaky speed,” McGovern said. “People don’t give him credit for having as much speed as he really does. He’s pretty tough.” 

This past summer, McGovern added former Homewood coach Lars Porter to his staff. Harwell has benefited, running farther in practice and faster in races. 

At the most recent state cross-country meet, he trimmed 22 seconds off his previous personal best.

Harwell placed second in the race, less than a second behind the same competitor who bested him in the 1,600 outdoors: Vestavia Hills’ Ethan Strand. 

The two will likely battle again at the state indoor and outdoor meets this year. A win would secure Harwell the individual state title that has narrowly eluded him. 

“I know it’s going to be real hard,” he said, “but I think that if I really work hard, I think I can do it.”

Whether he does or doesn’t will have minimal impact on his future. He signed with Auburn University a week after the state cross-country meet.

Harwell said he chose the Tigers in part because of the coach, David Barnett, who spoke to Harwell more about life than about running on his official visit. 

Harwell liked that. As he knows, both can be a journey.  

“Just all glory to God, honestly,” he said. “He’s put me in a position, and I’m just thankful for it. He’s given me a gift.”

This article was updated Jan. 22 at 1:55 p.m. to correct the year Harwell was pulled up to the varsity cross-country team.