Posted on the wall of the shed the Moses Lake track and field team uses to store equipment are the school records in each event.
There, in black letters on a gold sheet of paper, is Kay Lybbert's name with his shot put mark -- 54 feet, 7 inches, set in 1958.
Lybbert's accomplishment also is emblazoned in white letters on the maroon school records board hanging in the main gym.
It was his name and his mark that caught Tad Harman's eye the first day he saw them as a freshman three years ago, just starting out as a thrower in the Chiefs program.
His goal ever since has been to displace Lybbert's name with his own. And Saturday's 47th annual Pasco Invitational is just the place to do it.
Harman threw a career-best 53-8 last May at Edgar Brown Stadium to take third at the 4A state meet -- and he barely scratched a 55-foot throw that would have given him the mark.
"My toe was just barely over," he recalled. "I looked over at the judge, and it took him a minute before he called it. That's OK, though. It just made me want to work harder for it this year."
Although Harman has struggled so far this year to duplicate that feat -- his season-best is 51-6 3/4, set almost a month ago at the Ray Cockrum Invite -- he loves the Edgar Brown ring and thinks this could be the week he finally gets to put his name up on the wall.
"My year so far has been frustrating," Harman said. "But when I did my best last year, it was in Pasco, so I'm really looking forward to this weekend."
Harman also figures to be one of the contenders in the discus Saturday. His season-best of 159-4, thrown in his first meet of the year -- the Eisenhower Jamboree on March 15 -- already beats his 2007 best of 157-6 and is fourth-best among the Invite field.
He credits his improvement in the discus to a different training regimen this year.
"I haven't lifted as much, so I'm more flexible than I was last year," he said. "I'm not as strong for the shot, but I'm more flexible for the discus."
Harman, who stands 5-10, also is about 10 pounds lighter this spring than last. After weighing between 245 and 250 pounds in football (he was an all-state offensive lineman), he dropped to about 225 during wrestling season (he placed fifth at state in the 285-pound division). He's back up to 235 heading into the weekend.
"He cut quite a bit of weight for wrestling," said Chiefs coach Kevin Whittall, who also helps out with the throwers. "He's still getting his weight and strength back up, but his best throws last year were at the end of the year.
"In the shot, he's been flirting with 52, 53 feet all the time in practice. He just needs to get one going in a meet. He's due. He is definitely due."
Harman first began throwing the shot in seventh grade, learning to throw by watching an eighth-grader's technique.
"He did the glide, so that's what I did," he said. "Then, in high school, I saw someone do the spin for the shot, and I thought it looked cool, so I started doing it."
He didn't pick up the discus until his freshman year, and again he found someone to emulate -- teammate Billy Matthews, a year older than Harman.
The two developed a friendly rivalry, culminating last year at state when Matthews won the discus title -- Harman placed ninth, missing the finals by 3 feet.
This year, Harman's rivalry is with classmate Cameron Dewitt, a transfer from Monroe who's already gone 49-2 1/4 in the shot. "He's pushing me," Harman said.
But nothing like the push he received earlier this year at Moses Lake's Homecoming football game against Eisenhower.
It was then that longtime assistant coach John Wagner, also one of Harman's throws coaches, introduced him to Lybbert and got a picture of the two of them together.
"He said, 'A record shouldn't last that long,' " said Harman, who owns a 3.99 GPA and will study psychology at the University of Mary in Bismarck, N.D., with which he signed a track letter of intent. "And he told me, 'You'd better beat my record this year.'
"And I just said, 'I'll do my best.' "
Tad Harman isn’t the only Mid-Columbia athlete with their eyes on big things at Saturday’s Pasco Invite. Here are some other area athletes to watch:
Boys
Andrew Gonzales, Southridge: The area leader in the 3,200 squares off against two-time 4A state champion Joey Bywater of Lake Stevens, among others.
Cade Wandling, Prosser: The area leader in the 100 and 200 meters faces stiff competition from the likes of Union’s Kinsley Ojukwu and Nycole Griffin of Benson (Portland).
Girls
Whitney Leavitt, Kiona-Benton: She’s dominated the small-school ranks the past two years but has struggled to make her mark at the Invite.
Galia Deitz, Richland: The state leader in the high hurdles and No. 2 in the lows, she’ll match up with Bellarmine’s Shaquana Logan (No. 1 in the lows) in both races.
Courtney Kirkwood, Othello: The WSU-bound state javelin leader — but 13 feet off her area-record 160-foot form of a year ago — also will contend in the high hurdles and long jump.
Jessica Christian, Richland: The 16th female pole vaulter in state history to clear 12 feet, she now has her sights set on the area record — 12-6 by former Bomber Sara Rowse in 2001.