
Before the cross country season began, Taylor Morris had a goal of qualifying for the Class 3A state cross country meet in her first season at Christian County High School.
On Saturday, her goal became a reality.
The Lady Colonel junior finished in 11th place at the region meet at Owensboro’s Yellow Creek Park. Her time of 20:56 was a personal best and just the second sub-21:00 time in school history. Kayla Welch ran a 20:40 at the 2002 Class 3A state meet in Lexington.
Morris will be the first Lady Colonel to run in the state meet since Cor’Lissia Cunningham in 2015.
2023 has been a striking transformation for Morris, who ran her freshman and sophomore years at Heritage Christian Academy. Last year, she won the KCAA state cross country meet with a time of 25:51. Her fastest time last year was 23:57. Her freshman year was 27:13.
On Saturday, she went out strong and was in the top eight with 500 yards left.
Her finish helped the Lady Colonels finish in eighth place as a team with 203 points.
Seventh grader Ellie Brown finished in 32nd place, completing the 3.1-mile course in 23:40, knocking nearly a minute off her previous best time of 24:36.
Fellow seventh grader Aubree Cline was 52nd in a personal-best time of 26:28, eclipsing her previous best by over a minute-and-a-half.
Julia Munoz was 58th in a personal-best time of 27:13, and Haddassuh Elkins was 62nd (33:29).
Daviess County’s Lucy Spaw won the race in 19:24, while Marshall County’s Addison Lyle was second in 19:44.
Morris will run in Saturday’s KHSAA Class 3A state cross country meet which makes a return to the Kentucky Horse Park for the first time since 2019.
–photos by Ashlyn Brown
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