Morley makes her mark

The daughter of custom boat builder, Steve, and Bigfork Elementary third-grade teacher, Jill, Morley says that running was something that was always a part of her family life growing up, but not something that she seriously considered pursuing until junior high.

“My mom would do fun runs while I growing up, but it was never really a competitive thing,” she said. “Then my dad started running and he kept telling me that I should run with them, too. So I did. But just for fun.”

It was not until Morley breezed through a seven-minute mile during a fifth-grade PE test that someone took notice of her running ability. That person just happened to be her PE instructor and long-time Bigfork High School cross-country coach Sue Loeffler.

While Loeffler was convinced that Morley had what it takes to be a strong long-distance runner, Morley was not so sure.

“When she first started, she hated it – just hated it. She did not like it at all,” Loeffler said. “That’s how it all started, but she has come a long, long way. We laugh about it now, but she had a pretty rough start to her running career.”

Morley remembers it exactly the same way.

“I ran with my mom all summer long and I did horribly,” Morley said. “I would literally fall on the ground after a half mile and start crying. I really did hate it at first.”

With encouragement from her family, Morley decided to stick with running. It wasn’t until the first race as a sixth-grader that things started to come together. Running in Kalispell against a field of mostly seventh and eighth grades, Morley came away with a ninth-place finish and a competitive racer was born.

After improving nearly every race in sixth grade, Morley dominated in seventh grade, winning every race she competed in. The top of the podium was something she would get used to.

Moving to the high-school level in 2011, Morley dominated there as well, winning four consecutive Class B state cross-country titles while also being named the Gatorade Montana Cross-Country Athlete of the Year all four year.

When it came time to pick a college, Morley decided to stay close to home, choosing to attend the University of Montana in Missoula. Unfortunately, Morley said the school was not a good fit for her. After having a tough relationship with her distance coach in Missoula during her first semester, Morley made the decision to transfer to the University of Colorado, which had also been on her radar during the recruiting process.

It was in Boulder that Morley found her legs at the collegiate level, helping lead the Buffs cross-country team to top-five rankings before finally breaking through with the team national championship in 2018 in her final year of eligibility as she finished eighth individually.

For Morley, that cold Saturday morning in Madison, Wisconsin was the culmination of a lot of hard work and dedication.

“It was probably the best day of my life. We had been ranked first or second going into the national meet during my first three years, but we just couldn’t win it. To finally get that title at the end of my final season was really special. It was amazing,” she said.

Morley was also finding success away from the cross country scene, earning three consecutive Second-Team All-America nods in the 10,000-meter run for the Buffaloes track team as well as one first-team selection after finishing sixth in the 5,000-meters in 2019.

With one year of indoor and outdoor track eligibility left, Morley is looking to close out her college running career with even more success as she continues to adapt her running style to the next level.

“It would say that having to adapt my running style to support a whole team has been the biggest difference between high school and college running. It was a huge growing experience having to learn how to support others and learn how to run as a team,” she said. It takes a lot of dedication because you never get an off-season. Winter, fall, spring, and summer, there is no break. You need to have a lot of passion for it and love it or else it will not be any fun.”

Loeffler agreed that hard work and dedication has been the key to Morley’s success.

“It was her commitment that made me believe she could be a great distance runner, and she is a great student. I think those things go hand-in-hand,” Loeffler said. “Her work ethic just carries over into everything she does. She is always striving to get better.”

Morley, who has already earned a degree in anthropology and is working on another in English creative writing, says she is hopes to continue running professionally after leaving Colorado and has already found success outside of the college ranks. As the four-time defending winner of the Missoula Half-Marathon, Morley also recently broke her own record for the fastest time in the event.

“I am definitely going to do a lot more road racing after I graduate and hopefully be running them professionally. The Missoula half-marathon is such a fun race and I love running it every year,” she admitted.

Having come a long way from where she started, Morley does occasionally slow down to relax on the lake in the canoe her grandfather made for her when she was a child, but she says she will continue running as long as she can.

“It’s really freeing. It’s really hard when you are doing it, but it’s one of those things that make you feel better about yourself after you do it. Now, I like how hard it is. You have a real feeling of accomplishment when you finish a race. You also get to meet a lot of great people and be a part of a great community,” she said. “It doesn’t get any better than that.”