Morris takes the road less traveled, finds success

When you go to a track and field meet on the campus of Harper College there is one jumper, sprinter and thrower that stands above the fray.

That athlete is the Hawks’ do-everything sophomore De’Larissa Morris.

As a high school senior, Morris earned all Upstate Eight honors while playing basketball for the Streamwood girls basketball team. Morris also qualified in the long jump for the 2006 girls track state meet but was forced to withdraw from the competition when surgery was needed on her right big toe.She was recruited by two schools, Elgin Community College and Division II Alabama-Huntsville, to play basketball. She ended up playing hoops for ECC before a second attempt in collegiate track and field.And that second career in track and field has gone quite well.Morris already has one individual national championship under her belt in the heptathlon. She placed third in the long jump, high jump and javelin at last season#146;s NJCAA Division III track national championships. Morris was also part of two relays (4x1, 4x4) that finished seventh at nationals.This spring, Morris has already qualified for nationals, which will be held this weekend at Alfred State College in Alfred, NY. She is ranked No. 1 nationally in the heptathlon, long jump and high jump, and third in javelin.The road to track and field success has been anything but easy for the 23-year-old Morris. When she was in grade school, she moved from Drew, Miss. to Evanston to live with her aunt, Gladys Calhoun. The oldest of 5 children, De#146;Larissa, her mom, Delorious Allen, and Morris#146; four siblings reunited in Evanston a couple of years later.Upon her graduation from Streamwood, Morris played two seasons for the Elgin Community College women#146;s basketball team. After completing her two seasons of elgibility with the Spartans, Morris transferred to Southern Illinois before coming home to help Allen, a single mother, raise Morris#146; younger siblings. While in Carbondale, Morris struck up a strong personal relationship with Salukis jumps coach Andre Scott. The SIU coaching staff looked into having Morris added to the team#146;s roster. But the NCAA clearinghouse had raised its standards regarding the credits for transfer students from 14 credits to 16 credits. Morris did not meet the new standard and never joined the SIU track program. Instead, Morris joined Harper#146;s track program; Elgin Community College does not have a track and field team.#147;Doing something I love to do brought me back to it,#148; said Morris, who described the Harper track program as a kind of family.#147;We talk about everything,#148; she said. The younger Hawks look up to Morris and have given her the nickname #147;Mama D.#148; #147;I see myself as a leader,#148; said Morris, who#146;s majoring in civil engineering. #147;Most of the girls look up to me.#148;