Athlete of the Week: Harrison Krause

Glastonbury High School senior Harrison Krause competed his senior season on the trails by competing in the New England Championships in Rhode Island on Nov. 12. 

For Glastonbury High School senior Harrison Krause, what started as a summer filled with running countless miles locally, finished on the championship trails in Rhode Island. 

Krause wrapped up his cross-country career at GHS by running at the New England Championship at Ponaganset High School in Glocester, RI on Nov. 12.

“It was a new experience, traveling to a meet. I really hadn’t done that” said Krause, who finished 29th overall and ahead of 231 other runners at the regional meet. “It was really fun.”

The race put a bow on what was a stellar season for Krause, who shaved over two minutes off his previous time at the state’s Class LL championship meet at Wickham Park.

A season ago, Krause ran an 18:34 at the class meet and this season he finished 7th overall with a time of 16:21 on Oct. 29. 

GHS head coach Mark Alexander said he was blown away by Krause’s improvement this fall, crediting the dedicated senior for his tireless work in the summer. 

“He has stepped up immensely. Looking back at him as a freshman and to see how far he has progressed, not just as an athlete but also as a leader, is incredible,” added Alexander. “All the younger kids respect and look up to him, and they want to know what he did as a freshman, so they can try and improve like he did.”

Krause said the championship races––including an 11th place finish at the State Open on Nov. 4––were all memorable, but it’s his race in Farmington at the Winding Trails Invitational that stood out the most. 

Running stride for stride with Bristol Central’s Francis Porrini III, Krause ran a personal-best 16:06 to finish second overall to Porrini at the race on Sept. 24.

“We were pushing each other the entire time,” recalled Krause. “It was in the woods so we didn’t really have good GPS tracking, so we just ran with each other the entire time.”

Krause, who first started running races with his father while in elementary school and later joined the cross-country team in middle school, said he could feel himself going up and down the hills faster this season thanks to his strength and endurance training he did in the offseason.

Along with qualifying for regionals, Krause was also named All-State. He was the leader of the pack for a Guardians team that placed 7th at the Class LL championships and then posted a top-ten finish at the State Open.

Krause said it was a collective effort from a group of guys that both encouraged and challenged each other, adding, “It’s really nice to see us hit times that we wanted to hit and succeed. I am really excited to see what the underclassmen will do in a couple of years because they are looking really strong.” 

Alexander said that Krause has followed in the footstep of recent program standouts Jacob Smith (2020-graduate) and Joseph Accurso (2022-graduate), who both mentored Krause.  

“Harrison is now setting that example. His leads by example and through his work ethic,” added Alexander. “In a couple of years these younger kids will be doing the same thing. It’s a building process and I want to see it every year come through.”

Alexander continued, “All of our captains this year have motivated these younger kids to be better runners and better athletes and better people. They all do the little things.”

Now that the cross-country season has concluded, Krause will turn his attention to indoor track this winter before wrapping his high school running days with outdoor track in the spring. 

His main focus is the 3,200 meters where he hopes to qualify for Nationals. 

​Krause said that competitive running is definitely in his future and he is currently weighing his college options, leaning towards a climate outside of Connecticut is that “warm, but not too warm.”