Morris advances to first NCAA cross country championships

Gracie Morris continues to make great strides with her college cross country career.

Yes, a pun was intended, but there is nothing cliche’ about what the former Aledo standout is doing at the next level. Her latest accomplishment is qualifying for Saturday’s NCAA Cross Country Championships in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

Morris qualified after finishing second at the NCAA South Central Regional on Nov. 11, earning an automatic bid. She matched the highest individual finish ever for a TCU female at the meet, joining Mary Kinyanjui, who won in 2003.

She is also the first TCU runner to qualify for the NCAA Championships since Brenley Goertzen in 2016 after placing third at regionals.

Gracie Morris catches her breath after a race for TCU.

Morris’s time in the 6K race was 20:17.1, more than a minute ahead of her previous best time of 21:37.5 that placed her 11th at the Big 12 Championships on Oct. 28, where she placed 18th.

“My coaches have been telling me all season I was going to make it,” Morris said. “By the time I was 4K into the race I knew I was going to qualify.”

At the regional meet, Morris made major advancements in the final two-thirds of the race. She was in 13th place at the 2K split and moved up to fifth at 4K.

“This proved to me I’m stronger than in the past. I’m excited about track season,” Morris said.

The overnight forecast for Stillwater Friday is calling for a low of 23, meaning at race time (8 a.m.) temperatures will be in the upper 20s or low 30s with sunny skies.

“I don’t think the wind is supposed to be bad, so that’ll help some,” Morris said.

After much success running cross country and track for Aledo, Morris began her college career at the University of Texas, where she enjoyed a modicum of success. She won her first collegiate track competition in the mile at the Charlie Thomas Invitational.

She transferred to TCU prior to the 2021-22 indoor track season, and though she only ran one race, she broke the school record for the mile, clocking a 4:40.81 for fourth at the Big 12 Indoor Championships.

In the spring of 2022 in track she placed fourth at the Big 12 Outdoor Championships and qualified for the NCAA Meet in the 1500-meter with a time of 4:24. That same season she broke a couple of school records, posting a 2:05.38 in the 800 at the Alumni Muster and a 4:14.59 in the 1500 at the Tom Jones Memorial. She began her season by finishing first in the 800 at the TCU Invitational.

Earlier this cross country season Morris won one race and was second in another at the 5K distance. She was third in another race at 4K.

Running for Aledo, Morris was fifth at state cross country as a freshman, third as a sophomore and second as a senior. She did not compete in 2018 because of an injury. 

In track at Aledo, she won state in the 800 and was second in the 1600 as a freshman and was fifth in the state in the 1600 as a junior.