RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The minute Nayla Harris arrives at a track meet she has her game face on. 
 
When she walks off the bus, as she does her warm-up routine, when she gets into the blocks, Harris has an aura about her that lets the competition know she means business. Her half-frame, polarized shades with impenetrable lenses make it impossible to see her eyes, but the intensity they carry is palpable anyway. Her movements are easy but intentional as she prepares for a race – quick and sharp footwork, fluid mobility, explosiveness on full display. 
 
Harris is striking at the starting line. At 5 feet 5 inches she's not particularly tall, but her toned frame is packed with muscle, from the popping shoulders to the defined arms down to her powerful legs. Tattoos wrap her right lower leg and upper thigh, and her right forearm. She wears a facial expression that portrays a fierce confidence and all-business attitude, almost indicating a disinterest in the competition she's sure she'll beat. 
 
It's all by design. 
 
"I want to look intimidating. I want to put it in people's minds right when I get there that I'm here to win. When it's time to warm up, I have to look like I'm there for business. I don't want people thinking they're getting inside my head, because they're not," Harris said. 
 


Harris wasn't always that sure of herself. The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) junior sprinter was a standout at Seguin High School, qualifying for the Class 5A state meet three times (all years except 2020 due to COVID-19) and winning multiple district, area and regional championships. But she said she used to look and feel scared at meets because she lacked confidence at that time. 
 
Confidence has been the key change in Harris over her three years at UTRGV. She has gotten faster, stronger and more committed every season. This season, Harris put it all together – and it all started from a setback. 
 
Harris's 2024 season ended in disappointment. She failed to make the final of the women's 100- or 200-meter dash at the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Outdoor Championships. Though she left that meet with a gold medal for the 4x100-meter relay, she felt incomplete, and something flipped inside. 
 
"She fully committed. She literally eats and breaths track & field, and it shows," head coach Shareese Hicks said. "It's hard to drop time by a tenth, but to do it by a little over half a second is unheard of. It's a testament to her hard work and her desire to be the best." 
 
The relationship between Harris and Hicks is unique. Hicks was a professional track athlete for seven years after a Hall of Fame career at Charlotte, where she was a four-time All-American. She was a 2012 US Olympic Trials finalist and medaled at events like the World Indoor championships, USA Indoor Nationals, Pan American Games, and the North American, Central American and Caribbean Championships.  
 
Hicks sees a lot of herself in the stoic, determined Harris – who even has similar goals of becoming a coach after pursing a professional track career. Their connection was instantaneous and the main reason Harris chose to compete for UTRGV. 
 
"The chip she had on her shoulder, I had that. Her approach with her ballistic training, her explosiveness, that edge that she has that can't be coached, I relate to that. I'm looking at her like, I know exactly how to coach you, because I was you," Hicks said. 
 
Harris enjoys the playful, competitive nature of their relationship. Hicks said it's a goal of hers "to coach a young woman to run faster than I ever did," and currently, the two are tied. They both want to see Harris break that barrier and are working together to get it done. 
 
"There's no other coach for me. She really understands me. Knowing she sees herself in me, wow, that means a lot, and I just hope to beat her and do better than her so I can rub it in her face," Harris said through a smile.  
 
With a new perspective and the support of her coach, Harris exploded this season. The UTRGV Breakout Athlete of the Year set the indoor program record in the 60-meter dash (7.26) twice, earned a win at Texas Tech, and claimed the first Southland Conference (SLC) Championship in UTRGV history at the indoor conference meet in the 60. 
 
Even after an incredible indoor season, Harris didn't know how good she could be outdoors. Her season opener wasn't great, but she responded maturely and made adjustments to run 11.37 the following week – setting a new program record and moving to No. 1 in the SLC and No. 14 on the NCAA West qualifying list. Then, she picked up back-to-back victories at her next two meets. 
 
On May 3 at Texas A&M's E.B. Cushing Stadium in Bryan-College Station – the host site for the 2025 NCAA West First Round – Harris ran 11.22 to finish third in the 100-meter dash. She improved her own program record and secured her place among the NCAA Championship contenders for the first time in her career. 
 
"At the beginning of the season I didn't know if I could do it. But when I started running faster, I thought, 'I have a chance at this,' so I started manifesting it, pushed myself more in training, and it happened," Harris said. "I gained confidence. And once you gain confidence, you have the motivation to work out better, train better, lift better, think better, eat better. Once you have that confidence nothing's going to stop you." 
 
Harris went on to win the SLC Outdoor Championship in the 100, making it official that she's the fastest woman in the conference. One could call her the fastest woman the SLC has ever seen, since her NCAA West qualifying time of 11.22 is the Southland Conference record. 
 
Harris didn't run full-out at the conference meet. She didn't need to. When she walked up to the blocks, intimidation mode set on high, she knew she had the race in the bag. Five meters out, she did her version of the Michael Jordan shrug, crossing the finish line with a "that was nothing" look on her face. 
 
"I expected it. I could tell I was going to win because, looking at the girls around me, I could tell they were intimidated, and if it's already in their head then I already got this," Harris said. 
 


Now, Harris is ready to leave it all on the track as she chases takes on this next phase of the season. She's heading to the NCAA West First Round ranked 16^th on the qualifying list. The top 12 finishers at the meet will punch their tickets to the NCAA Outdoor Championships scheduled for June 11-14 in Eugene, Oregon. UTRGV hasn't sent a woman to the national meet since 2005. 
 
This will be the biggest meet Harris has ever competed in, but she's not intimated. She knows she belongs among the fastest in the nation, and she's running to win. When the competition sees her, they'll know. 
 
"This whole season, I've been preparing for this. All summer, I was preparing for this. This is the time for me to really show out. I have everything I need to do it, so I just have to put it all together," Harris said. "The success that this confidence brings me, I want to keep it going. I don't have any fear in me. I pray a lot and that really helps me. All I got to do is execute." 

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