Whittni Morgan

I attended BYU and had a great experience. My coach, Taylor, taught me to love running. The school is religious and challenging in all aspects, but it helped me to grow the most during my college years.
 
Transcript: "Yes, so I did go to BYU in college. My experience was really good overall. It was a really great school. I still train there a little bit and I have really great relationships with the people that I met there. My coach at BYU was and is still currently Coach Taylor and she made the experience really memorable and really actually made me really learn to love running. I didn't necessarily love love running coming into college. I kind of just love to compete and love to get better I guess and so running seemed like the right thing for me. So yeah, Coach T and her program is really what kind of helped me grow a passion and love for the sport of running. As far as the school itself, BYU is a religious school and I'm a part of that religion as well and it was a very unique environment where I feel like I was really pushed in every way spiritually, mentally, physically, all the ways. You're surrounded by people that have a lot of faith and I just think that is a really cool place to put yourself and it really stretches you as a person. Overall BYU wasn't an easy school but it was the place that really allowed me to grow the most in my life and I owe a lot to BYU and the amazing people that I was able to learn from there. If you have more questions about BYU or the religion or the academics, any of it, feel free to ask more questions."

In my freshman year of college, I broke the five-minute mile at a race at BYU, running a 4:54. My previous PR from high school was 5:05.
 
Transcript: "When did I break the five minute mile mark? It was my freshman year of college. It was actually my first college indoor race. I was running just here at BYU and I actually won the race too. It was a really fun day. I ran a 4.54 I think. So my previous PR from high school was 5.05 so I was pretty excited."

Cross country is different than track and field because cross country involves running on dirt trails or grass and the distance can range from 5K to 10K, whereas track events involve running in circles on a track and involve more split timing. Also, cross-country requires grit and stamina, while track requires more split timing and technique.
 
Transcript: "Hi, yes, cross country is different than track and field. Cross country you run on grass or like dirt type trails and it's more of like a course where track is just on the track and you just run in circles. But the distance for cross country ranges from 5k to 10k depending on women or men and track has a ton of different events. So yeah, they are very different. Cross country is a very, in my opinion, it's a very gritty sport and the time doesn't really matter. It just kind of depends on your grit. Also, you have to be in shape too, but just being gritty is key for cross country where track is more like splits and all that stuff. So yeah, they are very different."

It was tough being a college athlete during COVID times, but those that stayed motivated and worked hard despite the uncertainty ended up finding success. It also brought a sense of gratitude for the opportunity to compete.
 
Transcript: "What was it like to be a college athlete during COVID times? Yeah, definitely, especially initially, so, so hard. I feel like it forced all the athletes to really decide if they want to do their sport for reals, or if they want to move on and do something else, because there's just so much unsurety that you just had to be very present with what you were doing, and if you wanted to work out, you wanted to do those things that would help you be the best you could be, then you were doing those things. And I think a lot of people got lost during that time, but I feel like the people that were really motivated with what they were doing, and were very, just like, just really loved what they were doing, I feel like those were the ones that showed success later on. For me personally, it was very hard, but I did have a really good coach who kind of kept, helped us keep really good perspective. We kind of had the motto of win the weight, so when the time came that we did have the opportunity to run again, that we would be ready, and that we would be the ones that are patient enough, and that we will continue to work hard despite the uncertainties. And we did come back, we did do really well, and COVID definitely changed our mindset of how we viewed our races. We were just so grateful to have the opportunity, so I think it brought a lot of just gratitude overall for the sport that we get to do. It's not given, and COVID showed us that, showed us just that, that it isn't just given, so I think it did teach a lot of good things, even though it was really hard."

No, I would not change anything about my track career so far. I believe that the trials and setbacks have made me a stronger runner, and they have taught me to persevere and grow.
 
Transcript: "Is there anything I would change about my track career so far? I feel like an answer that would make sense would be like no injuries or no setbacks like that but I am a firm believer that those are the things that make the victories more worthwhile. I definitely do think you in order to have the good you do need to take the bad so I I feel like running has allowed me to view trials as like opportunities to grow and opportunities to get better and to choose to persevere so yeah I feel like as changing anything I don't think I would change anything I think I would just want to learn from those things and move forward and keep persevering."

My name is Whitney Morgan and I'm a professional runner for Adidas. I specialize in races from the 1500 m to the 5K and also occasionally do road races. I trained with Anna camp and Courtney waiting and coach Taylor. I'm originally from Southern Utah and ran at BYU.
 
Transcript: "Hi, yeah just a little bit about me. My name is Whitney Morgan. In the running world you may have known me as Whitney Orton but I got recently married about two years ago and so changed my name over to Morgan because it does kind of sound the same so hopefully you'll still recognize me by that. I'm from southern Utah in a town called Pinguich where I was a multi-sport athlete and decided to specialize in running and run at BYU. I'm coached by Coach Taylor, she's incredible. I train with Anna Camp and Courtney Wayment and yeah we just have a little group in Utah so it's been really fun. This is my second year running professionally for Adidas and yeah I'm just excited to keep racing and keep improving. I race, I specialize in the 1500 meter to the 5k so also you may occasionally see me on some road races as I really did enjoy cross-country in college as well and yeah it's a little bit about me."