Up To SPEED

Ranking the athletic accomplishments of Corona del Mar senior Liz Morse can be an exhaustive task, but there’s no question what belongs on top.

Her victory in the 800 meters at the state track and field finals June 3 capped off an amazing high school career for the Princeton-bound runner, who is The Times’ Orange County girls’ track and field athlete of the year.

Morse won the state title with a nation-leading time of 2 minutes 8.16 seconds, the fourth-best time in county history and the fastest since 1980. She’s also the county’s first state champion in the 800 since Rennie Durand of Laguna Beach won in 1982.

“I was ecstatic about that time and winning state is what I’ve been going after ever since I was a freshman,” said Morse, who finished eighth in state as a freshman, didn’t qualify as a sophomore and, as a junior, finished third behind four-time champion Lindsay Hyatt of Auburn Placer.

Morse began the season by recording the top indoor high school 800 time in the nation at the L.A. Invitational in February. She skipped the high school portion in favor of the open race and beat several collegiate competitors en route to a fourth-place finish in 2:10.96.

What followed was one incredible performance after another.

Morse was the predicted winner in the 400 and 800 at the Orange County Championships in April, but her victory against the top speedsters in the county in the 200 was the surprise of the meet. She came back to plow through the field on the final leg of the 1,600 relay and lift the Sea Kings into a tie for third.

A few weeks later, Morse helped her team cruise to the Southern Section Division III title with another dominating performance.

She set a personal best in winning the final 400 of her high school career, was an easy winner in the 800, finished third in the 200 and notched another come-from-behind victory for the 1,600 relay team.

After winning Masters and state titles, Morse finished second the Golden West Invitational in Sacramento on Saturday.

Morse’s resume also includes quality victories at distances up to 5,000 meters. During the fall cross-country season, she set a course record at the Sunny Hills Invitational, then came from behind in the last 100 yards and won the Division IV race at the Stanford Invitational.

Morse also finished fourth at the county championships to help Corona del Mar win the team title over Woodbridge, the eventual Division I state champion. She finished second at the Southern Section Division IV finals, helping the Sea Kings to the team title, and capped off her season with a 13th-place finish at state, which helped Corona del Mar to its first state title since 1992.

Kelly Halley has been running alongside Morse since the seventh grade, watching her develop from a casual runner to a national leader. Halley remembers when Morse gave up soccer following her freshman year and dedicated herself to running. While Morse was clearly the dominant athlete on the Corona del Mar track team from that point on, she never hesitated to help motivate others.

“She’s just an all-around great person, great friend and great teammate,” Halley said. “If we were having problems with a workout, she would come help us in the middle of her workout and also do ours. She was always there for us if we needed something.”

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Liz Morse

School: Corona del Mar

Year: Senior

First-team all-county events: 200 meters, 400 meters, 800 meters, 1,600 relay team.

All-county first team:

Michelle Sanford, Woodbridge; Amber Steen, Newport Harbor; Dana Bethel, Mission Viejo; Lindsay Wells, Mater Dei; Rachael Ziemann, Edison; Matala Lualamaga, Santa Ana; Kristen Thompson, Esperanza; Caroline Rebello, Marina; El Modena’s 400 relay team; Corona del Mar’s 1,600 relay team.