While Morgan Foster (Chandler, Sr.) has been a nationally ranked speed demon for several years now, but this was the first season since middle school that she was able to get in some indoor racing without any interruption to her winter training. This past weekend Foster raced the Junior Girls mile at the Reggie Lewis Track & Athletic Center for the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix in Boston, MA.
According to Matt Lincoln, her distance coach at Chandler High School, "This is the first year finishing cross-country and the off season with no set back of any kind. Just being healthy for her is the key."
Just two weeks prior Foster ran 1:32 600m (which she won) and 2:48.10 in the 1,000m in collegiate fields at the UW Preview Invite. For the Indoor Grand Prix, Foster joined an elite field made of State Champions and powerhouses like Brynn Sumner from Georgia, Grace Connelly from Massachusetts, Victoria Vanriele from New Jersey, and Ericka Vanderlende from Michigan.
They took it out in a 38-seconds for the first lap and for the first half-mile Foster patiently sat behind Vanriele. She dropped the paced to a 36, then down to 35s, widening the gap all the way through the final lap where she dropped the hammer in 33 seconds to clock in at 4:50.13, clinching the victory with a lifetime best at the distance, let alone on an indoor track.
"NBGP was the target race but I wanted a chance to compete on an indoor track before that race so I raced at UW two weeks prior to NBGP. I was looking to drop a fast time because I'm in the best shape I've ever been in," sad Foster.
All three of her indoor performances are ranked top four in the country, which for us back home gives us goosebumps in anticipation for the outdoor season. Though she's enjoyed the indoor experience, Morgan explains, "I'm going to focus on outdoor season. I would love to continue with my indoor season but all of the possible meets are so far from Arizona."
Coach Lincoln says that the plan is to go back to strength training for the next few weeks before she even considers opening her outdoor season. Though there's no confirmation as to when that will be, we can bet that Chandler Rotary, Arcadia, and State will be the biggest priorities during the regular season.
Junior Girls Mile Results
