Records, as they say are meant to be broken and all eventually will but there can only be one 'First' and Turner junior Eddie Harmon was the Tornadoes 'First' State Champion in track and Field.

Eddie won the Class C Boys 800 Meter Run at State Track and Field Meet in Laurel on Friday, May 26 with a time of 1:59.33.

Harmon's State C effort was impressive, it was an exciting race that was won in the final meters and was also the schools first sub two minute 800 Meter race, but his accomplishment means so much more than what's on the surface.

Eddie is also an excellent basketball player for the Tornadoes and led the team in almost every statistical category this past winter.

He is also accomplished academically having done very well in regional and State Science Fairs, always can be found on the Honor Roll and this past Sunday was on his way to Carroll College to participate in Boys State.

Eddie is also a outspoken advocate for Suicide Awareness and says his motivation to perform at a high level on the track as well as on the basketball court comes from his desire to succeed for his friend Tristan Billmayer who took his own life two years ago, "Nobody should have to go through that pain, nobody should have to do that alone," said Harmon.

Eddie is a humble kid with a great attitude and spirit about him. I sat down with Eddie this past Saturday and visited with him about the whirlwind that has followed his most recent accomplishment as he and his mom were headed for Helena and Boys State.

Eddie is the son of Jon and Shelly Harmon and the older brother to Jack and right now the pride of Turner, Montana.

After his historic win Friday in Laurel Eddie stayed with his parents while head coach Levi Humphrey's and state qualifiers freshman Sarah Billmayer and sophomore Cody Welsh headed home.

Small towns always seem to have a strong connection to the youth of the community as they perform in various athletic, academic or 4H activities and the response to Eddies success was impressive.

Harmon was greeted with a welcome home caravan that included all the bells and whistles, "The whole community met Eddie about seven miles out of town when he was on his way home from the State meet," said Humphrey's. "They took our ambulance, our fire trucks, and all of the communities personal vehicles and escorted him into town."

The town was certainly buzzing with pride over Eddies accomplishment as was his coach, "The entire community is so proud of him, as am I. He worked very hard to get to where he is today. He did this all for Tristan. A lot of people in our community use him as an inspiration. He was such a great kid and everyone misses him, and we all know that he is always watching us," added Humphrey's.

Harmon's run to the state title began during his sophomore season when he broke the then school record with a 2:10, he soon broke it again and then again and so on.

Heading into the state meet Harmon had the second fastest time in the event just behind Denton's Kordell Carpenter.

Harmon had defeated Carpenter in the season opening Fort Benton meet but has finished second in all the subsequent meets, until state.

"When he started his race in Laurel, I knew he wanted the win," said Humphreys. "I told him when we first got to the meet that day that if he wanted to win, he had to find Carpenter right away and stay with him the whole race. He knew he had a stronger kick than Carpenter, and I think Carpenter was used to winning by such a big margin all season, that he started too fast, and he just couldn't kick at the end, and Eddie could."

The final 50 Meters of the race brought everyone to their feet as they could see Harmon closing in on the lead, "He went from down about 30 meters, to down about 10 meters, in between the 200 meter mark, and the `100 meter mark. As soon as he rounded the last corner, our home crowd started screaming because we knew he could catch up. Carpenter turned to look to see who was behind him, and he tripped over his feet and Eddie crossed the line for the win," said Humphrey's.

The joy over Eddie's win extended far further than even Eddie realized as he has received congratulations from people all over the state, "

"There is really no words to explain it, it's just been phenomenal," said Harmon. "I don't even have the words for it, it's all so surprising."

"People from everywhere, I didn't even know their names were congratulating me saying good job Eddie. It was really nice to see how everyone was proud of me," said Harmon.

Having so many people from outside the community of Turner came as some surprise, "I expected a little bit of it but not as big as it has gotten," added Harmon.

As much as the response from those outside the community caught Eddie off guard, his arrival back home was even more surreal, "I had no idea what was being planned or anything so when I got there I was really surprised by all the attention," commented Eddie. "My dad distracted me while everyone pulled out in front of us and it was just a giant parade heading back into town, it was crazy.

After everything that has taken place over the past month standing on top of the podium at State tops the list, "It felt great, yeah, it was the best thing I've ever felt," stated an enthusiastic Harmon.

As far as his future plans Harmon looks to more success next spring and hopes to compete in five events at State including the 800 meter run, the 100, 200 and 400 meter dashes as well as the relay.

Harmon will certainly be favored in the 800 and will be amongst the favorites for sure in the 400 after finishing third this year. He will be strong in both the sprints as well and is confident his relay team which includes younger brother Jack, Cody Welsh and Clayton Krass will be good as well.

After high school Harmon's plans are wide open, "I honestly don't have any plans yet, I want to keep going with basketball or track, whichever one will take me farther and then hope for the best from there. I'm not sure what I want to study yet but I'll figure that out.

Moving forward Eddie has inspired and motivated many people young and old and is remained focused on his most important personal goal, "This season's for Tristan Billmayer again, just like last year I'm doing it for Suicide Awareness," said Harmon. "My motivation is for Suicide Awareness, no one should have to go through that pain and people should be able to talk about it I think," concluded Harmon.

Courtesy Photo

Sarah Billmayer, Eddie and Ella Billmayer. Tristan's sisters and family are big parts of the Fast Eddie Fan Club.

"Eddie uses the attention he gets for his athleticism to try to promote awareness for suicide prevention. That shows how big of a person Eddie is. A lot of kids his age would just want all of the attention. Eddie uses all of the people that talk to him or interview him about his races to say how much Tristan meant to the entire community, and to him, and he tries to spread awareness that teen suicide is a serious problem in Montana," concluded Humphreys.