Former BYU runner and Olympian Whittni Morgan didn’t get a win on Saturday at the U.S. Indoor Track and Field Championships, but she did secure her spot on a global stage, capping a strong month of competition.
Her third-place performance in the women’s 3,000 meter final put her in line to compete for Team USA at the World Indoor Championships next month when Saturday’s winner, Nikki Hiltz, declined the opportunity.
Hiltz is choosing not to race at the international competition in order to focus on the Grand Slam Track season ahead, according to Chris Chavez of Citius Mag.
Morgan’s coach, Diljeet Taylor, who is also head coach of BYU’s women’s cross-country team and the associate track and field director, confirmed to Chavez on Saturday that Morgan, an Adidas-sponsored pro, will take the open spot.
World Indoor Championships
The U.S. can automatically enter two runners in the women’s 3,000 meter event at World Indoors, so long as two have met or exceeded the world qualifying standard of 8:33.00.
Both Morgan and the second-place finisher, Shelby Houlihan, did that earlier this year.
On Saturday, Houlihan finished in 8:48.43, while Morgan crossed the line in 8:48.56.
Morgan was 20 seconds faster earlier this month at the Millrose Games in New York City. She finished in 8:28.03 there and won the women’s 3,000 meter race over professionals Josette Andrews and Sarah Healy, and bested Australian and Olympic silver medalist Jessica Hull, who finished fourth.
That performance served notice that Morgan, who continues to build from a knee injury, is among the strongest distance runners in the world.
The World Indoor Championships will take place in Nanjing, China, from March 21-23.
Whittni Morgan at the Olympics
Morgan finished fifth in the 5,000 meter event at June’s U.S. Olympic track and field trials, a remarkable achievement coming off surgery for a knee injury that occurred just months before the Olympic qualifying meet.
She made it onto Team USA for the Olympics when Elle St. Pierre and Parker Valby chose not to race the 5K in Paris in order to focus on their other events, as the Deseret News previously reported.
Morgan ran well in the Olympics and made it through the preliminaries to compete in the final, finishing 14th in her first world competition.
Morgan is from Panguitch, Utah, and broke multiple school records — while dealing with multiple injuries — during her time at BYU.