After only three years of training, Senior cross country runner, Morgan Cox holds the title of the second fastest girl in Trinity Prep history. She is 0.08 seconds away from claiming the first place spot.
Prior to attending Trinity as a sophomore, Cox’s athleticism started with competitive gymnastics and Winter Park High School’s rowing team.
“When I was a gymnast, I trained 20 to 25 hours a week,” Cox said. “One thing it taught me was commitment to a sport and really anything I do.”
With Trinity’s lack of rowing team, Cox needed a way to stay active so she chose the cross country team.
“I needed something to guide my energy towards,” Cox said. “So I chose running because I’ve never been a ball sport person.”
Head cross country coach Sara Dowdy, describes Cox as extremely hardworking and that her success did not happen overnight.
“She’s every coach’s dream,” Dowdy said. “She’s on time to every practice, she takes every workout seriously, but she still has fun and can joke with the other teammates.”
During Cox’s junior year, she lowered her time each race and in total dropped three minutes over the course of the season.
“My favorite part about running is the personal satisfaction aspect,” Cox said. “Being able to get faster every single week and just pushing my body is something that I enjoy.”
After three years of hard work, Cox has committed to running in college at Emory University in Georgia.
“I didn’t want to go to a school just because they were D1 or because they had massive funding for their athletic programs,” Cox said. “I wanted to go to a school that I knew would challenge me and had a good reputation.”
Cox hopes to be able to be pushed more as a college athlete and is excited for her future at Emory.
“[I’m excited to compete] with a lot more people and a lot more people that are better than me because I think that leaves a lot more opportunity for growth,” Cox said.
Although Cox’s time as a Trinity Prep cross-country runner has concluded, her career has just started. Coach Dowdy shares this is only the beginning for Cox.
“She’s gonna be great [in college] because she’s made such a jump from sophomore to junior year and this year, so I think she’s just starting to see what she can do,” Dowdy said.
