Chandler standout seeks dynamic distance double in Sally Meyerhoff mile and 800 meters, potential all-time meet marks as she continues to build on impressive start to record-setting senior season 

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

The mental toughness, unwavering competitive spirit and relentless determination of Morgan Foster inspired her to win another Arizona Interscholastic Association Division 1 state title in the 800 meters during a junior season at Chandler High that almost never materialized as a result of a near-fatal car accident.

The physical strength, emotional drive and exceptional will of the Stanford signee have Foster on the verge of one of the most significant senior seasons of any female athlete in Arizona prep history, with the next opportunity to add to her record-setting resume Saturday at the 79th NIKE Chandler Rotary Invitational.

Foster, the state record holder in the 800 meters at 2 minutes, 6.13 seconds, is looking to become the first female athlete since 2015 to win both the Sally Meyerhoff mile and the 800 in the same year, when former Desert Vista AZ star Dani Jones – the reigning NCAA Division 1 cross country champion at Colorado – set meet records in both events by clocking 2:11.42 and 4:46.17.

“The fact that it’s my last one still hasn’t hit me yet, but I’m sure it will (Saturday) when I’m lining up for that Sally Meyerhoff mile. It’s sad that it’s my last one here, but we’re lucky that we get to have one on our home track,” said Foster, the current national outdoor leader in the 800.

“The strength that I have now, before it kind of fazed me that I’m running the mile and the 800 and possibly the 4x400, but with how strong I’m feeling, I think the state (800) record might have to watch its back, too, even after the mile. Hopefully you’ll see some of that strength (Saturday), but I’m looking to PR in the mile and the 800 as well.”

Foster won the 800 at last year’s meet in 2:14.67 in her first individual race following a lengthy rehabilitation after the January 2018 accident and eventual surgery, which resulted in a titanium plate and 11 screws to mend a broken right arm, in addition to repairing a partially collapsed lung.

She won her second straight 800 state crown and contributed to another Chandler Division 1 team title in May, which resulted in the Wolves repeating as DyeStat national dual-meet champions in the third annual online virtual tournament.

“Last year, with the season I had, it probably still might be the season I’m most proud of with how I started it versus how I ended it,” said Foster, who also placed third in the 800 in 2:08.38 at the Brooks PR Invitational in June.

“But it’s just amazing to know that all that hard work I put in there, that it was for a purpose and it’s helping me now. Just having that determination and working through last year, it really gave me a big confidence booster, even for this year.

“People know about my mental toughness, I think I proved that last season. Now it’s just about throwing down those fast times.”

Instead of spending a week in the hospital, 12 more days in bed and missing nearly two months of training during her rehabilitation early last year, a healthy Foster had the opportunity this winter to compete indoors for the first time in her career.

She raced in the 600 (1:31.82) and 1,000 meters (2:48.10) against collegiate and professional athletes Jan. 12 at the Washington Indoor Preview, finishing in the top 10 in the country in both events.

Foster then triumphed Jan. 26 in the mile in 4:50.13 at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix in Boston in the biggest victory against an elite field during her high school career.

FOSTER INTERVIEW AT NEW BALANCE INDOOR GRAND PRIX

“It’s incredible because I was looking recently at my stats and my splits for this year and every single race that I’ve run this year, I’ve PR’d,” said Foster, who also finished the winter season ranked top 10 nationally in the mile, despite not racing March 10 at New Balance Nationals Indoor at The Armory in New York.

“I’m just through the roof happy with how my performances have been. Even during indoor season, I don’t think I’ve had a performance yet where I feel completely gassed and that is also extremely encouraging because I know I have so much left in me.”

Such a productive indoor season set a foundation for Foster to begin challenging not only program records, but all-time state marks, early in the outdoor schedule, instead of having to wait until Saturday or April 6 at the 52nd Arcadia Invitational.

Foster opened March 2 at the Aztec Invitational at Corona del Sol and ran a personal-best 10:34.83 in the 3,200, just off the program record of 10:34.76 set last year by Haley Wolf, now a freshman at Oregon State. It was an 18-second improvement from Foster’s sophomore season.

That momentum carried over to March 7 at the Brophy Prep AMDG Invitational, where Foster, who had already run sub-2:06 during a time trial in practice, lowered the 800 state record from her freshman season by nearly a full second.

“The combination of the meets and the practices, coming into this season, it wasn’t, ‘I wonder when I’m going to break the state record? It’s how much am I going to do it by at this first meet?’” Foster said. “The range that I’m showing now is even stronger than I thought I could ever get. I never knew I had that speed and I never knew I had that strength until this year. It’s coming together quite nicely in all aspects at all distances.

“The workouts that used to have me dead where I couldn’t get up for a solid hour and they left me in my room shaken up afterward, they’re not fazing me and I’m running them at a faster pace. I think I can continue to drop as the season progresses and have it be a consistent drop because I’m consistently getting in more intense workouts while still feeling strong.”

But the 800 wasn’t the only state record that Foster achieved two weeks ago at Brophy Prep.

Teaming with junior Armani Harris and freshmen Trinity Henderson and Jocelyn Johnson, Foster helped Chandler clock a nation-leading 3:43.50 in the 4x400 relay, regaining the record that was broken by state rival North Canyon, when the Rattlers ran 3:46.08 last season.

“Honestly, I would say the shock took over the excitement. My personal state record that I got in the 800, I was really happy with that, but I don’t think I felt that excitement and pure joy that I did in the 4x400,” Foster said. “In the 800, I kind of knew based on how I had been doing in practice, but the 4x400, we were just putting together a team that would hopefully win, we had no intention of breaking the record. We knew we would throw down a fast time if we won, so of course that was in the back of our minds, but did we ever think that we would break the record by nearly three seconds? I don’t think any of us would have guessed that.”

Foster, Harris and Johnson all ran splits of 56.1 or 56.2, with Henderson anchoring in 54.9 to improve on Chandler’s 2017 program record of 3:46.14.

“It was all just a complete shock and that feeling that I got when I saw the clock, I didn’t even know we were on pace to break the record until I looked and I was like, ‘Wait, isn’t the record like 3:47 and we just went 3:43,’” Foster said. “It all just came together at that moment.”

Whether Foster is asked to run the 4x400 relay again Saturday after the mile and 800 remains the decision of Chandler coaches Eric Richardson and Matt Lincoln, knowing that North Canyon will be looking to upstage the host Wolves again after prevailing at last year’s meet by a 3:46.99 to 3:48.37 margin.

But whether it’s Saturday or in two weeks at the Arcadia Invitational, Foster isn’t going to back down from the challenge, looking to complement her individual achievements with more team accolades.

“Every time I run the 4x400, it’s after two races, so I guess it’s that endurance that keeps me moving. I never felt like I could really put all my energy into a 4x400 (in the past), but I’m really focusing on doing that this year, trying to throw down to the point that my legs are so heavy, I can’t pick them up anymore because I ran so fast and so hard,” Foster said. “I love this meet purely because it’s our home meet. I mean we have to help set up and we have to work, but I think everybody loves this meet because it’s our home track and our home turf and we get more defensive over it and that just adds another interesting aspect, especially in the relays, so we feel like this is our territory and we have to protect it. We’re definitely going to put up a fight.”

And when it comes to squaring off against Foster in the mile and 800, her opponents have already learned on several occasions this year that it might be the toughest battle of their season trying to match the senior’s elite combination of strength and speed.

“We haven’t done that much specific work yet, but I just keeping feeding her these tough workouts and she just keeps meeting the challenge. It’s been really fun to watch,” Lincoln said. “Running a solo mile is a lot harder than a solo 800, so it’s hard to say. But I think she’s capable of running 4:42 right now, maybe faster. Whether that happens or not, I’m not sure. But I wouldn’t be surprised if she just decides to take it at 2:22 and see what happens.”

What could happen is one of the most impressive distance doubles by any female athlete, not only in the prestigious meet’s existence, but also in Arizona prep history.

In what could potentially be Foster’s final meet on her home track, she wants to leave a lasting impression during a career that has been defined as much by her resolve as it has by results.

“It’s so exciting. Working so hard these past four years, and even with the small bumps in the road and the bigger bumps in the road (last year), I’ve always been focused on a healthy season and this has been the first one, all the way through with no interruptions and just constant progress in workouts and hopefully in meets,” Foster said. “It’s really just incredible to be at this point.”