Morris confident as SEC meet nears

• By SHELDON MICKLES
• Advocate sportswriter
• Published: May 15, 2008 - Page: 6C - UPDATED: 12:30 a.m.

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After a brilliant sophomore year in 2006, LSU sprinter Brooklynn Morris appeared to be on the fast track to bigger and better things in her next-to-last collegiate season.

After turning heads in the 100 and 200 meters and both relays, Morris was well on her way to becoming one of the legendary program’s top sprinters.

But 2007 was not what the 10-time All-American or LSU coach Dennis Shaver envisioned. In fact, a nightmare of a season culminated in Morris’ removal from the Lady Tigers’ 1,600-meter relay at the NCAA Outdoor Championships last June.

After warming up for the final event of the four-day meet, Morris found herself in the stands while LSU raced to a win in the relay — clinching a second-place team finish.

Morris said she’ll never forget how she felt when Shaver didn’t call her name after the warmups were completed.

“I’ve always kind of been there,” said Morris, who’s also been an integral part of the Lady Tigers’ 400 relay team since she joined the team in 2005. “It kind of hurt me. It really hit me when I saw someone else going in the tent to check in and I was going up in the stands.

“I was so upset,” she added. “After the season, I evaluated myself and then Coach Shaver and I talked. I understood where he was coming from. I was just used to being there, and that was kind of a letdown. It was a lesson.”

Morris said her unfulfilled season was a result of training throughout the summer in 2006 after a long college season. She also competed for the USA in a meet in the Dominican Republic.

“I wasn’t used to having a long year like that,” she said. “I was tired and I thought I needed some rest, so I slacked up when we came back in the fall. Then the next season came too fast, and basically, I was out of sync. It hit me when the meets started; I wasn’t ready mentally and I wasn’t where I needed to be.”

The bitter disappointment she felt from the 2007 season lit a fire under the Houston native. Going into the Southeastern Conference Championships this weekend, she ranks fourth in the league in the 200 meters with a time of 23.29 seconds and eighth in the 400 with a 53.19.

Morris also runs the first leg on the 400 and 1,600 relay teams that lead the SEC and nation with times of 42.59 seconds and 3 minutes, 29.28 seconds, respectively.

“I’m definitely more prepared and focused,” said Morris. “No. 1, this is my last year. And No. 2, I was determined not to have the same year I had last year. I’m a competitive runner and I want to compete with the best.

“I feel I’m getting better and better each week,” she said. “I think things are coming along at the right time. I’m excited about what I can do at the SEC, the (NCAA) regional and the NCAA meet. I actually feel like I’m running better than my sophomore year.”