University of Georgia Athletics
‘We Just Fell Right Back Into Place’
June 24, 2022 | Track & Field, The Frierson Files
By John Frierson
Staff Writer
Julia Harisay looked across at her stepfather, Georgia track and field associate head coach Don Babbitt, and laughed. It was the first of many.
During an interview last month, seated on a bench near the shot put area of Spec Towns Track, Harisay laughed about needing a second breakfast that morning because the first one, from a local Five Points joint, wasn't up to snuff. She laughed about the tantrums she used to throw while her stepdad, one of the best throws coaches in the world, with a record of producing Olympic, world and national champions and medalists to prove it, was coaching her in high school.
More than once, Harisay laughed about the immature young thrower she was as a teenager and the (mostly) mature thrower she's become as a collegiate.
"I think I'm behaved now," Harisay said with a smile.
"Obviously, we've worked together before," Babbitt said with a laugh of his own, "but it's different. And then again, it's not."
Harisay is a gifted student and athlete. After graduating from Athens Academy in 2017 — she won state titles in the shot put and discus her senior year — she attended Princeton, where she primarily competed in the discus and shot put, and she graduated cum laude with a degree in Public and International Affairs.
After graduating, Harisay came home to Athens and the University of Georgia, where she is pursuing a master's degree in International Policy, while also using her final years of eligibility on the track. Competing for the Bulldogs this season, and again working hands-on with Babbitt, Harisay improved on her personal bests in the discus and javelin this season, including by more than 30 feet in the javelin.
"People always ask me: 'Is it weird being on the team with Don?' I'm like, not really," she said. "It almost is the exact same as high school. I feel like nothing's different, nothing's changed, but it is true that I think I'm just so much more mature now than I was — as I should be, thank God."
Yes, that line was followed by a laugh.
This spring, Harisay moved into the No. 6 spot on Georgia's all-time javelin list with a throw of 170 feet 8 inches at the SEC Championships, earning her a fourth-place finish in the meet. She also claimed the No. 10 spot on Georgia's all-time discus list with a throw of 159-11 inches, good enough for 10th at SECs. On Saturday, she'll be back in action in the javelin, at the USA Track and Field Outdoor Championships, in Eugene, Ore.
At Princeton, Harisay did the shot put (begrudgingly) and the discus.
"There's a reason I don't do that one anymore," she said of the shot put. "It was pretty much a love-hate relationship."
Discus was always her favorite, she said, but since she came to Georgia and started throwing the javelin more, and better, it's now putting a big smile on her face.
"Javelin practice for the majority of this year was kind of a big struggle, and I was always frustrated and getting upset, so I definitely would rate discus my best event, my favorite event," she said. "But then, somehow, I don't know, I just started doing well in javelin in the second half of this season. Now I've figured it out and it's clicked, and I love it now.
"Now, javelin's probably the one that I kind of like the most at the moment, but that's because I'm doing well."
One reason for that, Babbitt said, is the "training environment" that she's a part of at Georgia. She's responded to it — be it in the throwing ring, the weight room, or elsewhere — very well, he said.
"When she came to Georgia, she knew exactly what she wanted to do, and it's pretty easy when there are a lot of other people trying to do the exact same thing," he said. "You just kind of jump in there and stay right along with them.
"I think it's worked out pretty well so far."
Bulldogs coaching their children doesn't happen all the time, but it does happen. Men's tennis coach Manuel Diaz coached two of his sons, Eric and Alex, and new women's basketball coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson recently signed her daughter, Savannah Henderson, whom ESPN rated the No. 41 overall prospect in the country.
Babbitt and Harisay's mother, Petra, have been together for about 20 years, since Julia was 3. "I don't really remember Don and my mom not being together. I don't have any memories before," she said. Harisay may have learned throwing from one of the very best in the business, but it was already in her blood.
Petra Babbitt wasn't just a good athlete in her own right at BYU and Cal State-Los Angeles, where she did the hammer, shot put and discus. She was a five-time NCAA Division II national champion and eight-time All-American. And Harisay's father, Marc Harisay, threw the shot put at BYU and Cal State-Northridge.
But it wasn't the discus or any other throwing event that first got Harisay into sports, which didn't interest her much at all until middle school. First there was an attempt at soccer, but Harisay said she "just stood there in the middle of the field [laughs] with my finger in my mouth — I was so scared and timid."
Then she was introduced to volleyball, a sport Babbitt has played for decades, since growing up in Southern California. When he saw that she had a passion for it, he nurtured it as much as he could.
"That's something we could play together. It's interactive," he said. "Throwing discus, it's not designed to be interactive."
Eventually, perhaps inevitably, Harisay got into track and field and started doing the throws. She became a state champion, she competed for Princeton, and now she's a Bulldog, working with her stepdad every day to be the best that she can be.
When the two first met all those years ago, neither could have known what was in store for them. More than 20 years later, they have a special bond that's wrapped in family and sport.
Babbitt, who threw the javelin at UCLA, is about as big of a sports fan as there is anywhere. Sports are a huge part of the Babbitt household, including his daughter, Veronika, who's also a thrower. When Harisay watches Babbitt coach her little sister, Harisay has to laugh. It's a bit like watching herself at that age.
"Honestly, watching my sister throw right now in high school, I think she's a little more [laughs] temperamental when she's practicing than I was. Sometimes I want to be like: 'Veronika, just shut up and listen! He knows what he's saying, he knows what he's doing,'" Harisay said.
"I was similar to that and now I'm older. I still have my tantrums at practice, but those are more tantrums at myself. So now I'm able to get so much more out of it than I ever was before, but everything feels the same. It's like we just fell right back into place from where we left off four years ago."
Staff Writer
Julia Harisay looked across at her stepfather, Georgia track and field associate head coach Don Babbitt, and laughed. It was the first of many.
During an interview last month, seated on a bench near the shot put area of Spec Towns Track, Harisay laughed about needing a second breakfast that morning because the first one, from a local Five Points joint, wasn't up to snuff. She laughed about the tantrums she used to throw while her stepdad, one of the best throws coaches in the world, with a record of producing Olympic, world and national champions and medalists to prove it, was coaching her in high school.
More than once, Harisay laughed about the immature young thrower she was as a teenager and the (mostly) mature thrower she's become as a collegiate.
"I think I'm behaved now," Harisay said with a smile.
"Obviously, we've worked together before," Babbitt said with a laugh of his own, "but it's different. And then again, it's not."
Harisay is a gifted student and athlete. After graduating from Athens Academy in 2017 — she won state titles in the shot put and discus her senior year — she attended Princeton, where she primarily competed in the discus and shot put, and she graduated cum laude with a degree in Public and International Affairs.
After graduating, Harisay came home to Athens and the University of Georgia, where she is pursuing a master's degree in International Policy, while also using her final years of eligibility on the track. Competing for the Bulldogs this season, and again working hands-on with Babbitt, Harisay improved on her personal bests in the discus and javelin this season, including by more than 30 feet in the javelin.
"People always ask me: 'Is it weird being on the team with Don?' I'm like, not really," she said. "It almost is the exact same as high school. I feel like nothing's different, nothing's changed, but it is true that I think I'm just so much more mature now than I was — as I should be, thank God."
Yes, that line was followed by a laugh.
This spring, Harisay moved into the No. 6 spot on Georgia's all-time javelin list with a throw of 170 feet 8 inches at the SEC Championships, earning her a fourth-place finish in the meet. She also claimed the No. 10 spot on Georgia's all-time discus list with a throw of 159-11 inches, good enough for 10th at SECs. On Saturday, she'll be back in action in the javelin, at the USA Track and Field Outdoor Championships, in Eugene, Ore.
At Princeton, Harisay did the shot put (begrudgingly) and the discus.
"There's a reason I don't do that one anymore," she said of the shot put. "It was pretty much a love-hate relationship."
Discus was always her favorite, she said, but since she came to Georgia and started throwing the javelin more, and better, it's now putting a big smile on her face.
"Javelin practice for the majority of this year was kind of a big struggle, and I was always frustrated and getting upset, so I definitely would rate discus my best event, my favorite event," she said. "But then, somehow, I don't know, I just started doing well in javelin in the second half of this season. Now I've figured it out and it's clicked, and I love it now.
"Now, javelin's probably the one that I kind of like the most at the moment, but that's because I'm doing well."
One reason for that, Babbitt said, is the "training environment" that she's a part of at Georgia. She's responded to it — be it in the throwing ring, the weight room, or elsewhere — very well, he said.
"When she came to Georgia, she knew exactly what she wanted to do, and it's pretty easy when there are a lot of other people trying to do the exact same thing," he said. "You just kind of jump in there and stay right along with them.
"I think it's worked out pretty well so far."
Bulldogs coaching their children doesn't happen all the time, but it does happen. Men's tennis coach Manuel Diaz coached two of his sons, Eric and Alex, and new women's basketball coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson recently signed her daughter, Savannah Henderson, whom ESPN rated the No. 41 overall prospect in the country.
Babbitt and Harisay's mother, Petra, have been together for about 20 years, since Julia was 3. "I don't really remember Don and my mom not being together. I don't have any memories before," she said. Harisay may have learned throwing from one of the very best in the business, but it was already in her blood.
Petra Babbitt wasn't just a good athlete in her own right at BYU and Cal State-Los Angeles, where she did the hammer, shot put and discus. She was a five-time NCAA Division II national champion and eight-time All-American. And Harisay's father, Marc Harisay, threw the shot put at BYU and Cal State-Northridge.
But it wasn't the discus or any other throwing event that first got Harisay into sports, which didn't interest her much at all until middle school. First there was an attempt at soccer, but Harisay said she "just stood there in the middle of the field [laughs] with my finger in my mouth — I was so scared and timid."
Then she was introduced to volleyball, a sport Babbitt has played for decades, since growing up in Southern California. When he saw that she had a passion for it, he nurtured it as much as he could.
"That's something we could play together. It's interactive," he said. "Throwing discus, it's not designed to be interactive."
Eventually, perhaps inevitably, Harisay got into track and field and started doing the throws. She became a state champion, she competed for Princeton, and now she's a Bulldog, working with her stepdad every day to be the best that she can be.
When the two first met all those years ago, neither could have known what was in store for them. More than 20 years later, they have a special bond that's wrapped in family and sport.
Babbitt, who threw the javelin at UCLA, is about as big of a sports fan as there is anywhere. Sports are a huge part of the Babbitt household, including his daughter, Veronika, who's also a thrower. When Harisay watches Babbitt coach her little sister, Harisay has to laugh. It's a bit like watching herself at that age.
"Honestly, watching my sister throw right now in high school, I think she's a little more [laughs] temperamental when she's practicing than I was. Sometimes I want to be like: 'Veronika, just shut up and listen! He knows what he's saying, he knows what he's doing,'" Harisay said.
"I was similar to that and now I'm older. I still have my tantrums at practice, but those are more tantrums at myself. So now I'm able to get so much more out of it than I ever was before, but everything feels the same. It's like we just fell right back into place from where we left off four years ago."
Assistant Sports Communications Director John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files. He's also on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.
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