East’s Taliah Morris three-peats as the outdoor 4A long jump state champion

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (Wyoming News Now) - Taliah Morris has been the queen of the long jump ever since she started high school, and that continued over the weekend at the outdoor track and field state meet.

Morris fell just a few inches short of her goal of a 20 foot jump, but she’s still happy with how steady she’s been all year.

”One thing that was super good this year [for me] was consistency. Like at every meet I jumped a 19. I may have not breached that 20 foot jump you know, but I was right there. I was close every single time. I was always in the mid to high 19s, so just that consistency shows I can do it, I’m moving on, and I’m getting better every day. It pays off, what I’m doing in the offseason is paying off,” Morris said.

To put in perspective how dominant the junior has been in this event, she’s now three-peated as champ in outdoor states-- and the margin of victory was massive. Morris’ jump of 19 feet, eight and a half inches was a foot and two inches more than the second place finisher.

Morris is determined to keep improving; she still has one more year left of high school competition, however it will be a challenging offseason ahead. Morris is set to get ankle surgery, but she said she’ll draw from the experience of her previous surgery in order to more productively attack this recovery.

“[I’m] focusing on my mental health. Because last year I struggled with coming back from it, you know? Like it was just really slow, and I was really hard on myself when I know I just got surgery I’m coming off. [I told myself] I need to get my speed back, I need to get that muscle back. I feel like just taking it a lot slower [this time], being a lot kinder to my body, and just making sure that I come back when I’m ready and not when everyone else is,” Morris said.

Congratulations to Taliah Morris on another championship, and best wishes during her recovery process.

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