LEWISTON — The biggest challenge involved in Isaiah Harris’ junior track and field campaign at Lewiston High School has fallen on the shoulders of his coach, T.J. Niles.

That’s figuring out in which races to turn him loose.

Such is life when you own the school record in five different events. Harris has dominated middle distances and sprints alike, all so dominantly and effortlessly that it’s easy to picture him excelling in the mile, the two-mile or any jumping discipline, if it were wanted or needed.

“It’s kind of like 90 percent (Niles) and 10 percent me. I say what I kind of want to do and he tells me what he wants me to do. It’s pretty much what he wants me to do,” Harris said. “If I really don’t want to do something, he won’t force me to do it. But I let him decide because he knows what’s best.”

You can write Harris’ name in magic marker if you’re handicapping the 800-meter run in Saturday’s Class A state championship at Windham High School. He’s the defending champion after setting a state meet record of 1:54.17 as a sophomore.

Harris also is tentatively scheduled to compete in the 200, where his personal and school record of 22.72 seconds is two-hundredths quicker than teammate Hassan Mohamed. Harris is seeded third, a fraction behind Jake Dixon of Cheverus and Hunter Martin of Edward Little.

Lewiston will ask Harris to anchor the 4×400, in which the Devils set a KVAC championship meet record of 3:28.01 this past Saturday and moved to No. 1 in the state.

“We have Isaiah, who’s a 49-second guy, plus a 51 guy, a 52 guy and a 53 guy,” Niles said.

Harris also is last with the baton for a third-seeded quartet in the 4×800.

Add it up, and there’s a legitimate opportunity for Harris to join that short, hallowed list of Maine athletes who have scored the maximum 40 points at a state track meet.

“That would be like a high goal for me. That’s something I want to do. I think it’s possible,” Harris said. “The relays it’s what’s going to be kind of hard, because there’s a lot of teams close to us. Scarborough in their last meet passed us (in the 4×800). It’s going to be close on that.”

It’s nothing new

There’s probably a perception in the Maine track community that Harris was an overnight sensation, but that apparent meteoric rise actually has been a slow, steady climb since middle school.

The confusion stems from Harris being forced to sit out his freshman season.

“I went on vacation right before grade check, so I couldn’t get on the team,” Harris said. “I did it in middle school. I did rec track growing up. (Last year) wasn’t my first year doing track. A lot of people think that because they didn’t know. I’m used to track.”

Nobody had to wonder about Harris’ identity after his come-from-behind win over Brunswick senior Jamie Ross on a warm, sun-drenched June 2013 day in Brewer.

Ross arguably was the pre-race favorite but wound up playing the role of rabbit.

“The week before I ran 1:58 at KVACs, and at states I ran 1:54. That was because I had somebody to run with,” Harris said. “It helped me a lot. (Ross) did all the work the first 600 meters. I stayed on his shoulder the whole time, and then I just sprinted by him at the end.”

Harris rode that momentum to a time of 1:53 in the New England meet one week after, good for second place and only a fraction of a second off Maine’s all-class record, owned by Mark McCauley of Greely High School and Bates College.

That unofficial title of best-ever middle distance runner remains Harris’ primary individual goal this season. Although his seeded time in the 800 is 1:57, he ran a 1:53 split May 24 in Lewiston’s 4×800 victory at the River City Rivals meet.

“People say things like, ‘Oh, you beat your time by .2 seconds,’ or, ‘You can’t take one faster step?’ That’s actually a lot,” Harris said. “Once you get down there, (fractions) of a second, they matter. People that don’t do track don’t understand that. But I’m definitely happy with the season so far. It’s been up to my expectations.”

Cards and letters

The junior, who also runs cross country and plays basketball, credits his improvements both dramatic and incremental to Niles. The coach has announced that Saturday’s meet will be his last at Lewiston.

“He’s definitely one of the best coaches in the state. I trust his workouts and everything. I’ve always gone faster, so I believe in him. He knows what he’s doing. He gives us the right workouts, the right paces and everything. He doesn’t work us too hard and knows what we should get for times,” Harris said. “He does all the math. It’s mostly the coaching. Whatever he says for times, I try to get it, and if we don’t, he’ll probably just make us run extra, anyway.”

College coaches are seeing both the raw numbers and that behind-the-scenes work ethic.

Letters and pamphlets from Division I schools are arriving in Harris’ mailbox by the bucketful.

“Next year is going to be very interesting,” Lewiston athletic director Jason Fuller. “He is potentially the most elite athlete I’ve seen at Lewiston High School.”

NCAA rules prohibit coaches from contacting Harris directly until July 1.

“I’m excited about that. I want to go to college really bad. I wish I could skip senior year,” Harris said. “No one in my direct family, my dad, my sister, none of them have been to college. I want to go for that reason, and I also want to go for the experience and be able to say I’m a D1 athlete.”

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