Princeton Packet Athlete of the Week

Morrison brings experience to PHS

By: Justin Feil
   As an experienced club swimmer, Kathleen Morrison is a bit of a rarity among the Princeton High freshmen swimmers.
   "I’d say it’s five to one, non-club to club swimmers this year," said PHS coach Greg Hand. "You get who you get."
   So far, the Little Tiger girls’ swim team has been delighted by the addition of Morrison, who’s been swimming for the Eastern Express club team since she was in first grade.
   "She has experience," Hand noted. "There’s nothing she’ll see that she won’t have seen before."
   In her first week with the Little Tigers, Morrison enjoyed her share of winning. Last Tuesday, she helped PHS open its new pool with a 130-39 win over Steinert by capturing the 200 freestyle and the 100 backstroke and being a part of the winning 400 free relay. She continued her impressive start with a win in the 500 free, a second place in the 200 individual medley and a share in the winning 400 free relay.
   Kathleen Morrison is the Princeton Packet Athlete of the Week.
   "I was pretty excited about it," Morrison said of her scholastic debut. "I heard lot of good things about the team."
   Morrison joins a PHS girls’ team that went to the state B finals last year, and the addition of her experience and talent is expected to help the Little Tigers maintain their high standards. PHS has tried not to put any undue pressure on the freshman.
   "She had the talent and from the start, she said she’d swim whatever we needed," Hand said. "What you always see in the best swimmers, they don’t make a big deal out of winning or losing. She just swims her hardest. As a freshman, you want someone who doesn’t worry about the outcome.
   "These kids have swum for a while in club and know more or less what they’re in for with each event. If they have any information about the competition, that’s enough right there. They don’t need to be told anything else."
   Morrison has kept an open attitude to helping the Little Tigers any way she could. In her first week, she competed in four different individual events and won three of the four. She won both the 200 and 500 free events as PHS remained perfect with a 100-70 win over Lawrence on Tuesday.
   "I like swimming everything," Morrison said. "I don’t have any particular favorites. I’m better the long events like the 500. I’m pretty good at the free.
   "(The IM) isn’t my best thing. But there’s not a lot of pressure on me to swim it well. I swim everything pretty often with my club team."
   And though there’s no pressure being put on Morrison to be a top finisher for PHS in her first year for the Blue and the White, Hand after just three meets has developed quite a bit of confidence in her. She’s fit in quickly as a valued contributor.
   "Already," Hand said. "That’s a great thing. That’s also because she’s a nice person."
   Morrison entered this year with the idea that she could help the Little Tigers this year and in the future.
   "I hoped I’d be able to contribute a lot to the team," she said, adding that she hopes it continues. "It’s a little hard with club and school. I’m busy with schoolwork and swimming. Hopefully I’ll keep improving throughout the year."
   Even if she weren’t such a strong swimmer, Hand and the Little Tigers would be happy to welcome her to the team. The fact that Morrison has made such a sudden impact is just a bonus.
   "It’s great to have her out," Hand said. "She’s extremely versatile and very agreeable and it seems like she’s already a great team player. We’ve used her in four different individual events and she’s done very well. The thing we saw from the start is she’s solid in all the strokes. She’s good at all of them."
   It took Morrison just a week to prove that as she swam a variety of events in her first three meets of her scholastic career. She not only competed in them. Kathleen Morrison showed experience beyond her years in getting off to a winning start for the Little Tigers swim team.