Lebanon’s Harriman winning titles and setting records

Birhanu Harriman returned to Lebanon from Nashua at around 10:30 p.m. on Nov. 5, the first mission of his weekend accomplished.

The Lebanon High junior had just helped the Raiders win their first boys’ soccer state championship in 30 years. Harriman scored a goal in a 4-0 win over Kingswood in the semifinals three days earlier before Lebanon outlasted top-seeded Oyster River in penalty kicks to win the NHIAA Division II title.

But Harriman’s adventures in Nashua were far from done. He returned to the Granite State’s second-largest city the following morning and proceeded to shatter Lebanon’s school cross country record. Harriman’s time of 15 minutes, 34 seconds at the 5K NHIAA Meet of Champions bested the Raiders’ previous mark by 24 seconds, and by finishing in fifth place, he qualified for the New England Championships the following weekend.

“A couple of us got pizza and went to a friend’s house (after the soccer game),” Harriman said. “I was definitely tired, not having a large amount of sleep. If I’m being honest, I didn’t think I was going to do that well. But midway through the race, something clicked and I really wanted to do well.”

Harriman qualified for the Meet of Champions by taking second place in the state meet in Manchester on Oct. 30 with a time of 16:09.5. He followed up his record-breaking performance in Nashua with an eighth-place finish at New Englands in 16:45 on Thetford Academy’s treacherous Woods Trail. After starting slow, he came on strong near the end of the race, moving up from 23rd at the halfway point and finishing second among New Hampshire athletes.

And he had barely crossed the finish line before being approached by several college coaches.

Multiple Pac-12 schools, including Arizona, Oregon and Stanford, are interested in him, as well as a number of east coast programs like Boston University, Hofstra and Stony Brook, Harriman said.

“What he’s doing right now, it’s all pure nature talent,” Lebanon coach Kevin Lozeau said. “What I’ve been doing the last couple of weeks through the championship season was just trying to guide him and give him advice and make sure everything is good to go. But most of the physical stuff, he’s doing all on his own.”

Because soccer is a true team sport, Harriman prioritized soccer practices over cross country, but he did his own training runs before practice to get his mileage in. Next year, though, he said he will devote all his time to running, which will likely land him a Division I scholarship.

For now, he still has his junior season to complete. Harriman will compete at the Foot Locker Northeast Regional championships on Nov. 27 at VanCortlandt Park in the Bronx borough of New York. If he finishes in the top 10, he’ll qualify for the Eastbay National Finals in San Diego on Dec. 11.

“He’s got good genes, and his work ethic is unbelievable,” Lozeau said. “He has no problem going out and pushing himself to the limit, whether it’s a workout or a race. His confidence has also started to really go up. He’s basically the full package for what a coach could want.”

Benjamin Rosenberg can be reached at brosenberg@vnews.com or 603-727-3302.