Joseph Boo
NORWALK - The girl who had almost everything got the one thing she
didn't have Saturday -- a state title.
On a sunny afternoon at the CIF state track and field championships at
Cerritos College, Corona del Mar High senior Liz Morse illuminated the
stadium with a winning time of 2:08.16 in the girls 800-meter run to
capture her first state crown.
"This is what she's been working four years for," CdM coach Bill Sumner
said. "She has the best national indoor time, the national outdoor time,
she won CIF, but she never won state."
Until Saturday that is.
With the win, the Princeton-bound senior improved on last year's
third-place finish, exorcised any memories of getting tripped in the
Southern Section finals as a sophomore, and backed up her splashy state
debut when she placed seventh as a freshman.
"I feel so excited," Morse, who won CIF Southern Section Division III
crowns in the 400 and 800 this year to lead the Sea Kings to a team
title, said. "When I crossed the finish line, I just felt a sense of
relief that it was finally over."
In winning the 800, she reclaimed the nation's best time, which shattered
the previous best of 2:09.35. Morse's time is the only sub-2:09 in the
nation among girls prep runners this season.
Her finish was all the more remarkable considering the fast times from
the rest of the field. Long Beach Wilson's Ashley Freeman set an
extremely fast pace on the first lap before she started to fade. At the
split, half the field surpassed Freeman and Morse separated herself from
the rest of the pack with 300 meters left.
Morgan Banks of San Anselmo-based Sir Francis Drake was the runner-up
with a 2:09.10, the nation's second-best time. Long Beach Poly standout
Angelita Green's third-place time of 2:09.58 is the fifth-best in the
nation. And yet, Morse still won her race by more than a second.
"It was definitely important to get a personal record," Morse said. Her
previous PR of 2:09.40 back in April was the nation's top time for more
than a month. "I knew I had the capacity to reach 2:08, especially with
the conditions today,"
"You need to have two things to run a successful race," Sumner said. "You
need to believe in yourself and you need luck, like good weather and help
from the competition. I think this was the first time she was pressed in
the 800 this year and that really pushed her."
Morse's 2:08.16 emboldened Sumner to mention one event that they never
seriously considered until now, the Olympic trials.
