Favorite Morse Finishes Season With a Bad Trip

Liz Morse’s fortunes took a turn for the worse on the second curve of Cerritos College’s track during the 800 meters at Saturday’s Southern Section track and field finals. The defending Division II champion from Corona del Mar crashed onto the all-weather surface, effectively taking her out of contention for a berth in next week’s Masters Meet.

Morse, eighth in the state in 1997, rolled over twice, got up and put on a burst of speed in the final 200 meters and finished second to winner Jenny Petite of Yucaipa. Only the top nine competitors from all four divisions advance and Morse (2:17.82) was .27 of a second short of the cut.

In fact, Petite, second to Morse in the divisional finals last year, ran a sluggish 2:15.31 Saturday and was the only Division II runner to advance.

Petite, who said Morse hit the rubberized surface with a thump, said she thought she would have run faster if Morse hadn’t fallen.

“I wanted her up there with me,” Petite said “I’ve never thought of her as a rival. We work together. She helps me get better times.”

Depending on whom you talk to, Morse was either pushed from behind, tripped, or paid the price for trying to pass on the curve. Several runners said they really didn’t know what happened. The tumble took place when a number of tightly-bunched runners were jockeying for position and it was difficult to tell who all was involved.

“All I know is that on the curve I was hurdling a girl,” said Christa Fitzgerald of Dana Hills, who was behind Morse when she tumbled. “I went to grab her hand, and then I said, ‘What am I doing? Keep running.’ ”

Corona del Mar Coach Bill Summer is trying to get track judges to review the race again so that Morse, who held the best divisional time in the event this year, can advance to the Masters Meet. He filed a protest with officials because he believes Morse was cut off illegally and then tripped from behind.

But according to former Los Angeles City Section Commissioner Hal Harkness, who mitigated the protest, the lane judge found no incident of illegal contact. As Morse went down, the lane judge held up a white flag, signaling that he saw nothing wrong.

“I think she could have won it,” Summer said. “She’s probably have won in 2:12.”

When it was over, Morse had no answers as to what went wrong. And when she was informed that her season was probably over, she broke into tears.

“I have no idea what happened,” she said. “I stumbled into a girl and the last thing I know I was on the ground looking up. I knew I had to get up, not to sit on the ground and feel it was over.”