Sam Tanner foregoes final seasons to sign with Puma; Isaiah Harris joins Brooks Beasts...
Tanner, a one-time collegiate 1,500-meter record-holder, has signed with Puma and will continue to train at home in New Zealand.
In a statement on the UW track & field team's web site, Husky head coach Andy Powell said, "Sam is one of the best athletes I've ever worked with."
"He made a great contribution to our team far beyond his talent on the track as just a great person and teammate. We were fortunate to have him for two years and we're all looking forward to seeing what the future has in store for Sam and his new wife Melissa. I have no doubt he will be competing in World and Olympic finals for years to come, and hopefully we will see him back in Seattle soon."
Tanner became the first current Husky track athlete to compete at the Olympics since 1996 when he qualified for the 1,500-meters. Tanner ran his Olympic Standard with a collegiate record time of 3:34.72 set at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix in New York last February, becoming the first NCAA athlete ever to run under 3:35.00 indoors or out. He went on to place ninth in his preliminary heat at the Tokyo Games.
As a redshirt freshman last spring, Tanner finished tenth in the NCAA 1500m finals in Eugene. Indoors, Tanner ran the second-fastest mile in UW history, going 3:55.23 in the Dempsey at the 2021 Husky Classic.
Here is his Instagram post:
Tanner announced that he'll be represented by Tom Ratcliffe of Kimbia Athletics, and that he will stay in New Zealand and work with his coach Craig Kirkwood.
ISAIAH HARRIS JOINS BROOKS BEASTS...
In another pro track transaction, the Seattle based Brooks Beasts announced the addition of Penn State alum Isaiah Harris (Paul Merca photo) to its roster late last week.
Maine native Harris, who ran at the 2017 World Athletics championships in London in the 800 along with current Beast Drew Windle, finished fourth at the US Olympic Trials in Eugene, missing a spot on the Olympic team by .44 seconds.
Harris reunites with fellow Penn State alum Brannon Kidder, who was on the 2019 world championship team, and finished fifth at the Olympic Trials last year.
After finishing up at Penn State, Harris competed professionally for Nike.
Beasts coach Danny Mackey said in an Instagram post that he made a push to sign Harris when he found out that his Nike contract was expiring, noting that he initially tried to sign him out of Penn State.
Here's Mackey's post announcing Harris' addition to the Beasts.
NOTE: The University of Washington sports information office, Puma Running and Brooks Running contributed to this report.
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