At that first practice two weeks before school began “she burned a hole in the ground,” Whitman said. It was just a glimpse at the talent and skills possessed by one of the most dynamic athletes in St. Andrew’s history. 

On October 18, 2025, Harmon was inducted into the St. Andrew’s Athletics Hall of Fame. And it all started because Harmon wanted to join her good friend Memuna McShane ‘15 on the soccer field and have some fun.

“I was on the soccer field because I love to play,” Harmon said. “I honestly didn’t consider any impact I might have on the team. But the coaches were like ‘Let’s make your ability work for everyone.’ I cared about winning, but also, I was having the time of my life just playing.”

In her three years of playing soccer at St. Andrew’s, Harmon scored 98 goals with 11 assists and was named Washington Post All-Met and All-ISL three times. During her sophomore and junior years she played basketball, also being named All-ISL both of those seasons. As a junior and senior, she competed in track and field, mostly to “stay in shape during the spring.” She ended up setting school records in the high jump, long jump, and triple jump.

“I heard that they were looking for someone to try the long jump and I thought ‘This actually seems fun,’” Harmond said “I enjoy jumping. It can’t hurt to advance your jumping abilities. If you can jump high, jump far and can spring - I feel like that’s a good athletic balance.”

While Harmon was clearly a balanced athlete, it was in soccer where she proved to be elite. As her career progressed at St. Andrew’s, it became obvious that Harmon would be able to play beyond high school.

“I always wanted to play at a high level and when I learned you could play in college, that really became my driving force,” Harmon said. “All my memories of having success on the field, court, and track came with the knowledge that all my hard work mattered.” 

Harmon mentioned that Whitman played a role in pushing her as an athlete. And those lessons help her now as she takes a break before starting her medical school clinical fellowship to work as an assistant girls soccer coach at Brearley School in New York and an assistant teacher at Nightingale-Bamford School.

“Coach Whitman played this role of trying to see how far I was willing to take myself,” Harmon said. “I feel like that’s something that now, as a coach, I challenge my kids to bring their own flair or personality to the game. The team obviously comes first, but are you having fun? Are you challenging yourself? He taught me that every time you come to practice, you’re not just doing things to do them, you’re doing them with perfection, with your absolute best in mind. I feel like he really helped shape my mind in that way.”

For his part, Whitman holds Harmon up as one of several special players he had the privilege of coaching. 

“Jarena transformed the style of play for the girls' varsity soccer team and set new standards for goal scoring in the program,” Whitman said. “She was the fastest player on the ball that I have ever coached and played with amazing intensity and joy. ‘J’ hated to lose, which is something any coach would appreciate. As Jarena pursued her ambition to play Division I soccer she maintained an equal commitment to her club and school soccer teams, which endeared Jarena to her teammates.”

Harmon eventually achieved her dream of playing Division I soccer, first at the University of Pittsburgh where she scored a hat trick in her first collegiate game - the ninth in program history - then at the University of Maryland for her final three seasons of eligibility, where she played in 54 matches with 15 goals and three assists.