Runners a Study in Contrast : Harrington and McGrann Give UCI Team Balance

While most athletes teeter-totter on the highs and lows of their performances, UC Irvine runners Beth McGrann and Jill Harrington have found the pivot point for an even-keeled success.

Each other.

“Jill’s the calm, cool, collected type,” McGrann said. “I’m the wild and hyper one. So we really help to balance each other out.”

Said Harrington: “Beth’s like a champagne bottle. She just explodes and bubbles all over. I guess I’m more the quiet sort.”

Their physical statures also contrast.

McGrann, at 5-feet 2-inches and 96 pounds, has the long-legged leanness of which distance runners dream. Harrington has a more muscular frame (5-5, 110), providing the needed power for her middle-distance specialties.

While they may be the yin and yang of athletic personalities, the two sophomores do share some similarities.

They’re both redheads. They’re both of Irish descent. And they both hate to lose.

So much, in fact, that Coach Vince O’Boyle feels that the distance-running duo supplies an extra spark to the team’s competitive nature.

“They’ve shown the other girls and guys (on the team) what it takes to qualify for nationals,” O’Boyle said. “Dedication, determination and trust in the program.”

The program, it seems, has benefited tremendously from this pair of opposites.

Harrington, a product of Rolling Hills High School and Orange Coast College, holds the UCI record in the 1,500 meters at 4:18.93, a time set this year in the Pepsi Invitational at UCLA. She is also the captain of the squad.

McGrann, who went to Upland High School, broke the UCI record in the 5,000 meters by 38 seconds at the Northridge Invitational in April with a 16:18.46.

Both times surpassed the qualifying standards for the NCAA Division I championships, paving their way to the semifinals set for today in Indianapolis.

“They reached the pinnacle of their seasons when they qualified for nationals,” O’Boyle said. “They’ve had a very good year; all that experience (gained from NCAA competition) will help them to set higher goals for the next two years and beyond.”

They will run in their specialties today. Finishing in the top 12 will qualify the women for the finals on Saturday.

“Both of them have a good chance to qualify,” O’Boyle said. “They are two very different people, but when it comes to working 100% to (achieve) a goal, they’re identical.”

The women agree.

“We are definite opposites,” Harrington said. “But we share a common goal: to run fast .”

Added McGrann: “We aren’t afraid of others. And we don’t put anyone on a pedestal. You can’t, if you want to be successful.”