TCU’s Gracie Morris competes in the 1,500-meter run at the Olympic Trials

Recent TCU graduate and track phenom Gracie Morris competed in the U.S. Olympic Trials at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, Thursday evening, June 27 in the 1,500-meter run. 

The Aledo native competed against the top female long-distance runners in the nation, which is something she will cherish.

“Competing at the trials was truly a dream come true,” Morris said. “I’ve been saying since I first started track that I wanted to make an Olympic team, and this was a major step forward to accomplishing that. Stepping on the line with those ladies and actually being able to be in the race showed me I belong there and that, with time and patience, my time will come.”

Morris was not able to qualify for the Olympic Games this year, but that didn’t stop her from posting a blazing time of 4:18.32 in her best event on the track. The race was competitive from top to bottom as first and last place (38th) were separated by only 13 seconds.

“Although I wanted more at this meet, I’m still extremely grateful that I was able to get into the meet,” Morris said. “Being accepted into this meet was a huge accomplishment for me this year because I had to run a standard and get into the top 36 of the United States, which I was able to do at the qualifying meet in Portland a few weeks ago with a time of 4:08.94.”

Moving forward, Morris is armed with confidence and eager to continue perfecting her craft one step at a time while both continuing to increase recognition for long-distance runners coupled with her own rigorous self improvement disciplines.

“This meet definitely showed me that maturity plays a huge part into distance running and with time I’ll become stronger,” Morris said. “But, also being able to get into the atmosphere has made it a lot less intimidating for next time. I’m planning on transitioning to professional running this summer. No major decisions have been made yet but the plan is to run through the rest of the summer if my body is still feeling up to it.”