Going the distance: Rici Morrill is the most accomplished distance runner in Sultan High history

Published 4:52 pm Monday, May 10, 2010

SULTAN — Rici Morrill’s name is all over the Sultan High School record books. Among girls who have run distance events for Sultan, Morrill is by far the fastest. It’s not even close.

The Boise State University-bound track standout owns Sultan school records in three individual events: the 3,200-meter run (11 minutes, 18.32 seconds), the 1,600 (5:09.99) and the 800 (2:20.10). Morrill, whose first name is pronounced “Ricky, didn’t just break the old records; she obliterated them. For example, her personal best in the 3,200, set last season, is a whopping 64 seconds faster than the next-best girl.

Does Morrill, a Sultan senior, kick back and marvel at her impressive marks? Nope. Last week after a rain-soaked workout, she casually acknowledged that her school records are “pretty cool.” But she doesn’t cling to them. In fact, she can’t wait for someone to do better.

“I kind of hope,” said Morrill, “that someone in the future comes and breaks the records. I don’t expect them to last forever. It’s cool to have them while I’m here, but I still want the (Sultan girls track team) to progress.”

Morrill plans to keep inspiring younger girls this week at the Cascade Conference Championships. She hopes to place first in three individual events — the 800, 1,600 and 3,200 — and compete in the 800 relay at the meet, which takes place Wednesday and Friday at Cedarcrest High in Duvall. After that Morrill will try to finish her senior season strong at the 2A District 1 meet (May 19 and 21 in Sultan) and the 2A state meet (May 27-29 in Tacoma).

Although she is focused on the present, Morrill is also excited about her future. She received a scholarship to run cross country and track for Boise State, and she expects to tap even deeper into her potential.

“I can’t wait for the opportunity to run in college,” Morrill said, “just because I feel like I can improve so much still.”

That’s saying something because Morrill is already very good. Originally a sprinter when she started running in middle school, she tried the mile in eighth grade — heeding her gym teacher’s suggestion — and had immediate success. She used a blend of natural ability, dedication and intelligence to transform into a distance ace.

“She’s got a really impressive work ethic,” Sultan track coach John Hubbard said. “She’s a very competitive and determined kid, and she’s one of those special kids that also has some genetics that play in her favor.”

“She learns pretty quickly,” Hubbard added, “so when we tell her to do something she can figure it out.”

Track isn’t for everyone, especially the grueling distance events. But Morrill can’t get enough of the demanding sport.

“I love running,” she said. “I love the challenge. Sometimes it’s hard.”

It’s extra challenging for Morrill, who has asthma. She uses an inhaler and alters her training routine depending on how much the chronic lung condition bothers her, but she manages it well.

“Sometimes it’s really, really hard and frustrating at practice but normally I just pull through at the meets,” said Morrill.

Asthma hasn’t stopped her from logging serious mileage. She runs about 30 miles per week. This past fall she competed for Sultan’s cross country team for the first time — she played soccer the previous three years.

Not surprisingly, Morrill immediately excelled. She capped her debut cross country season by completing the 3.1-mile course at the 2A state meet in Pasco in 19:22 and placed seventh, by far tops in school history; the previous best performance by a Sultan girl was Chelsey York’s 49th-place run in 2004, Hubbard said.

Despite all of her success as a runner, Morrill has actually gained more notoriety for a much different pastime, one she’s been involved in far longer than track: Dog shows.

Introduced to the sport by her mom, Morrill attended her first dog show at age 2. Three years later she competed for the first time, showing a dog in a Pee-Wee event in Canada. From age 10 to 15 she regularly showed dogs at American Kennel Club Shows in the junior showmanship division, where judges rate dog handlers’ skills, as opposed to beauty-pageant-like conformation shows where judges evaluate dogs.

Morrill rose to the top. She was named the nation’s best junior handler in 2007 (Shetland Sheepdog) and 2008 (Flat-coated Retriever). She even got to show her sheepdog, Kellie, at the prestigious Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show in New York.

As Morrill got more interested in running she gradually spent less time participating in dog shows. But she still works for other handlers, taking care of their dogs and prepping them for events, and occasionally competes at shows, mostly in Oregon and Montana.

One good thing about having Morrill take care of your dogs: If they run away, she will probably catch them.

Mike Cane: mcane@heraldnet.com. Check out the prep sports blog Double Team at cmg-northwest2.go-vip.net/heraldnet/doubleteam.