As the Frankie Beverly and Maze song "Back in Stride Again" joyously and soulfully goes, it is perhaps is most eloquently applicable to Lovejoy junior Amy Morefield .
Even though she neither left nor fell off, it was clear the pre COVID world Amy Morefield was in a different step than the one who saw the pandemic end her freshman track and field season. By her own admission she had a tough 2020 season, "Last year was a little bit of a rough season for me, I was very inconsistent."
The 2018 Nike Nationals qualifier as a freshman came on the Texas high school cross country scene and took it by storm. She finished third at the UIL 5A state cross country meet and had individual national post season success.
After competition returned from the COVID shutdown, Morefield was still Lovejoy's top runner and one of the best in the state, but she hadn't quite gained her rhythm back.
We are now in the midst of the 2021 cross country season and I don't think there is any reason not to believe Morefield isn't back and thriving with her running.
"I want to leave high school with a state championship whether that be as a team or individual. I feel like we work too hard for this and we have so much potential."Amy Morefield - Lucas Lovejoy junior
She started the season off with a second place finish at the Hebron Friday Night Hawk Invitational in 11:02.90 for two miles followed by a 18:10 5K and a runner-up finish at last week's Lovejoy XC Fall Festival in 18:10 amongst some of the best UIL 5A runners in the state.
Morefield expounded on that finish, last weekend by going 17:36 at the Garmin MileSplit TX XC Invitational hosted by Denton Guyer. That was her second fastest 5K and the fastest time since her freshman year and it was a big invitational win.
Not only is this helping her individually, it's also pushing Lovejoy into the UIL 5A cross country state championships as well as possibly making them one of the top teams in the South Region. "We are so close this year and our coach says this is the closest our team has ever been; it's an amazing experience, i've never had this," she shared.
Morefield, who is a tough personal critic even had to admit in the post race interview that she is on a roll by saying, "This year i've stayed pretty consistent through out all of my races."
This is her first win of the year, but there could be many more in store for the junior. She shared her goals for the rest of her career, "I want to leave high school with a state championship whether that be as a team or individual. I feel like we work too hard for this and we have so much potential."
