Back in his freshman year, Graydon Morris qualified for the Foot Locker Nationals. That gave him an opportunity to do something that only one other young man has been able to do in the history of Foot Locker Nationals dating back to 1979.
Jorge Torres of Wheeling, Illinois qualified for the Foot Locker Finals in each of his high school years from 1994 - 1998. Not before or since has anyone been able to do until today.
It is hard to qualify for one national championship meet, yet alone do it as a freshman. It's even harder to do it more than one time. Morris was able to duplicate that as both aa sophomore and junior before heading into this season.
Last year, he joined an exclusive list of high school, NCAA, and USA distance runners by qualifying for three Foot Locker Nationals. Names like Edwardo Torres, Adam Goucher, and Meb Keflezighi were all three time qualifiers. All three of them went on to NCAA championships and All-American status as well as USA World and Olympic teams.
Today, Morris' third place finish in 15:01 enabled him to join an even more elite and prestigious group, becoming just the second in Foot Locker Nationals history to qualify for all four of their opportunities.
Morris has made history, but he isn't satisfied. Morris said, "I've been working for this for that past three years, how good it would be to end my high school career with a win."
Morris' Foot Locker Finals finishes have been impressive each year. As a freshman, he finished 34th in 15:51.20, then 2nd as sophomore in 15:23.30, and was third as a junior in 15:25.10.
Torres won the Foot Locker Championship in his fourth and final attempt, this will be Morris' chance to replicate another of Torres' outstanding Foot Locker accomplishments and this would be the most important one.
