Aledo, Fort Worth Christian runners finish in Top 10 of Foot Locker Nationals
Aledo junior Graydon Morris is good, really good.
Morris, who’s won the UIL cross country state title the past two years, finished third during the 2018 Foot Locker Cross Country Championships at Morley Field, Balboa Park in San Diego on Saturday.
He finished in 15:25.1 and came 12 seconds behind first-place Cole Hocker from Indianapolis. Morris was also named first-team All-American.
“I didn’t have a great start, but after the first mile I found my way up front,” Morris said. “I was in good position by the second mile and was able to separate myself. I made a move for third and kicked it down the stretch. There was a large group behind me and managed to fight them off.”
It was the third time Morris has raced in the event. He came in 34th two years ago and jumped up the second place last season.
Morris has multiple district and regional titles in his cross country career at Aledo with one more year left. He’s also a state champ in the 3200 and 1600 during the track and field season.
“It’s an honor to have an opportunity to run in all these meets,” he said. “I’m getting the experience I need going into college and it’ll help me tremendously in the future.”
Morris will get ready for his third track season with the Bearcats, but before that he has another national race lined up in Florida.
He hopes to run in that event and finish in the Top-5 because those that do, will move on to the USA Junior Cross Country Championship in Tallahassee, Fla.
But Morris wasn’t the only one from the Fort Worth area running in San Diego.
He was joined by Fort Worth Christian senior Carter Cheeseman, who came in 10th and was named second-team All-American.
“It’s an absolute honor to represent the Dallas-Fort Worth area,” said Cheeseman, who finished in 15:36.6. “Graydon and I have known each other for a while and it’s nice to enjoy that connection even with the girls from the area that raced too. Just nice to represent the South region as a whole.”
Cheeseman signed his letter of intent last month with Notre Dame.
“I really like their vision and mentality, and they’re a podium team. The guys are amazing too,” he said. “Hopefully by my sophomore year we have a shot at winning as a team.
Cheeseman, who won the TAPPS state title the past two years, will look to do the same in track during the spring. He also hopes to join Morris in Florida.
London Culbreath (McKinney North), Brynn Brown (Denton Guyer), Adoette Vaughan (Hockaday) and Ava Peeples (Lake Highlands) were the girls from DFW that ran in the race.