PLAIN CITY — The first time Amare Harlan visited the state of Michigan was earlier this fall in Ann Arbor when she took her official visit to see the University of Michigan’s track and field program firsthand.

She had no prior connection to the state, either. In eight months, the Fremont High sprinter and long jumper plans to head back to Michigan.

Harlan, the state’s record holder in the 100 meters, a two-time state champion in the event and a recent Junior Olympian, signed with Michigan on Tuesday to continue her track and field career at the collegiate level.

She had a signing party Wednesday at Fremont High in front of numerous family and friends.

“So I absolutely fell in love with it on my visit, I loved the campus, loved the team and I really liked the coaches,” Harlan said. “I built a really good relationship with them so that made it super easy to pick them. And I also was just kind of excited to — I love Utah, but also to get that experience to branch out and kind of see the world a little bit.”

Harlan talks fast but runs faster. This past spring, she tied and then broke Utah’s 100-meter record in a span of two months, and came 0.08 seconds from tying the 200-meter state record of 23.75 seconds (Harlan ran 23.83).

Harlan first tied Kaysha Love’s 2014 record of 11.68 seconds in a qualifying 100-meter heat at the City-County Meet at Weber High in March, then clocked an 11.58 at the BYU Invitational in May.

After she won the 6A state championship in the 100, 200 and long jump, Harlan embarked on a busy summer.

In June, she competed at the New Balance Outdoor Nationals in Philadelphia and finished seventh in the 100 with a time of 11.88 in the finals (the winning time was 11.56). Harlan also finished seventh in the long jump and 19th in the 200-meter preliminaries.

In July, she swept the 100, 200 and long jump titles at the USA Track and Field Region 11 Junior Olympics at Utah Valley University in Orem. Later in July at the National Junior Olympics in Sacramento, California, Harlan finished second in both the 100 and 200.

Harlan chose Michigan over BYU, Utah, Cal, Duke and Texas Tech. She visited all six schools before choosing the Wolverines. Michigan’s women’s track and field team finished in seventh place out of 13 teams at the 2022 Big Ten Outdoor Championships.

Connect with reporter Patrick Carr via email at pcarr@standard.net, Twitter @patrickcarr_ and Instagram @standardexaminersports.

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