Morgan Gill-Young Finds New Life With Seattle U’s Track Team
Morgan Gill-Young of Seattle University recently set a school record in the triple jump and is on the school’s all-time top 10 list for high jump and long jump. (Courtesy photo of the Seattle University Sports Department.)
From Aaron Allen, The Seattle Medium
One can be gifted with many talents, but talent doesn’t make life or the decisions we make easier. Morgan Gill-Young is a talented athlete at Seattle University, but her road to success has not been easy.
The record sophomore junior junior Olympic gold medalist and outstanding at Seattle’s Holy Names Academy aspired to follow in their father’s footsteps and continue the family’s track and field legacy as a triple jumper. Gill-Young’s potential was promising as she was successful in both high school and club sports throughout her youth. After high school, she attended Washington State University and joined the track team as a freshman.
Despite all of her pre-college honors, Gill-Young struggled to transition to college.
“Things didn’t go the way I imagined,” says Gill-Young of her freshman year.
“My coach in Washington state told me he didn’t think I was D1 material,” recalls Gill-Young. “[He said] If I stayed, I would probably not travel but keep working, but ‘You should probably go to a department two school.’ “
The news may have stopped many athletes from realizing their dreams, but Gill-Young used it as an opportunity to reflect and regroup.
“I’ve decided to take a break from the track, see what I have to do at home and if I have to come back to that I will,” said Gill-Young. “But if [my track career] should be over I learned a lot from sport and left. “
After Gill-Young left WSU in the fall of 2018, she came home and enrolled at Bellevue College to maintain her academic standards. She started playing competitive tennis, but athletics kept calling her name. So she started training again and looking for the best schools that would suit her style.
Through all of its ups and downs, Gill-Young knew she could turn to her family for support.
“As I watched her do it, I said to her, ‘You are the captain of your own ship,'” said Gill-Young’s father, Kenneth Young. “And no one can determine your goal unless you and you have to realize it.”
If graduating from high school and her 2018 academic year were a learning experience, 2019 was all about self-examination and soul searching, as Gill-Young used that year to mentally decipher her path to the future.
“In 2019 I didn’t even know I was going to do a track,” says Gill-Young. “I literally looked at the Seattle U list when it came time to look for a school and [said] If I give it up, I could come back with my grades and do that, so I did. “
Gill-Young’s talent and influence on the team was immediate. Toney Monroe, the show jumping coach for the Seattle University course team, saw her talent and knew he had something special.
“It was a surprise to join us,” says Monroe. “It was definitely a great blessing to see them bloom and do really well.”
Despite her absence from the sport and the fact that she doesn’t have an indoor track season to prepare for the current season, Gill-Young has put together a spectacular season. With seven meetings under her belt – including a record performance in Fresno, California, where she set personal records (PR) in the triple jump (39 feet, 10 inches) and the long jump (18 feet, 3 inches) – Gill-Young has stood out as a triple Threat Athlete for Seattle U. Featured and compete in the long jump, high jump and triple jump. Her 39 ’10 ‘triple jump effort pushed her previous PR by three feet, setting a school record in the process. In addition, she made it into the top 10 points of the school in both the high jump and the long jump.
“She did well in the long jump in Fresno, California. She took over the high jump and added a 3-foot PR to her arsenal for her triple jump,” says Monroe. “It’s great to have a three-pronged athlete. Where will she score this week is always the question? “
“There’s a song we know from Rick James, Super Freak, and she loves that song. Because she’s our triple threat, we coined her as ‘Super Freak’,” added Monroe.
Gill-Young has reinvigorated her love of athletics through her ability to overcome adversity and her work ethic and support group and it’s paying off. But more importantly, she’s having fun and once again enjoying the sport she has loved in a long time.
“It feels so good,” says Gill-Young. “It feels really rewarding to be off the track and come back after two years and have a season like this without an indoor season is pretty great.”
Gill-Young will be competing in the conference championships in Dallas this week, where she will compete in both the triple jump and the long jump.