WMA Preview: Kevin Morning Profile

By Bob Burns

It’s no surprise that Kevin Morning’s streak of dominance came to an end. It happens to be the best of them.

In his case, injuries took their toll. Family, church and work obligations played a role. It’s hard to maintain the fine-tuned edge that helped Morning set world age-group records and sweep the gold medals in the 100 and 200 meters at the 2001 WMA Championships in Australia.

“I had a pretty good run,” Morning said.

He’s hoping for another one. Morning, a junior high physical education instructor who lives in Roseville, will shoot for more world honors, this time closer to home, when he competes in the 2011 WMA Outdoor Championships July 6-17 in Sacramento.

“I really want to get back,” Morning said. “I never lost the competitive juices.”

Morning was on track to have a strong comeback season last year when he clocked 11.91 seconds in the 100 and 24.00 in the 200 leading up to the USA Masters Championships in Sacramento but a torn calf muscle forced him to attend the national meet as a spectator.

While a back problem limited his training this spring, he’s excited about getting back into the mix. It helps that he turns 55 on June 28, making him one of the youngest competitors in the M55-59 age group.

“The confidence aspect is the toughest thing to get back,” Morning said. “Now I’m pretty confident. I’ve got some pretty high goals. I’d like to run 11.7 and 23.6. It’s the first time that I’ve gone into a major competition with no warm-up meets, but my training has been going pretty well and my health is very good, so we’ll see what happens.”

Morning competed in two California state high school meets in the 1970s while attending Pasadena High School. At UC San Diego, he set school records in the 200 (22.01) and 400 meters (48.03) and was the university’s athlete of the year in 1978. While those are solid times, they hardly foreshadowed the form he’d demonstrate once he turned 40.

“I was an OK high school athlete and a very average college athlete,” Morning said. “It’s hard to explain why some people are able to maintain their speed as they age. I didn’t gain much weight and I like high-intensity training. It works for me. I was just as fast at 40 as I was in college.”

Morning clocked 21.9 for 200 meters at age 40 and was the USATF masters sprinter of the year in 1996, 1997 and 2001. He won a gold medal in the 200 for M40 at the 1997 WMA Championships in Durban, South Africa, and won a sprint double in the M45 class four years later in Australia.

In 2002, he set a M45 world record in the 200, clocking 22.13. He also ran on a 4 x 400 relay team that set a world record at the 2001 Penn Relays.

Morning continued running times that placed him among the top sprinters in his age group before surgeries on both knees sidelined him for a couple of years in his early 50s. His return last year was greeted with enthusiasm from his fellow athletes, who respect his graciousness as much as his obvious talent.

“Kevin is such a gentleman,” said Liz Palmer, the standout W50 sprinter and hurdler from Folsom.  “He’s very gracious and giving of his time.”

Both of Palmer’s sons had Morning as a P.E. teacher in elementary school.

“They came home and told me about ‘this cool P.E. teacher who runs really fast,’” Palmer said. “Kevin has a great coaching connection with the students.”

“I play all day with the kids,” Morning said. “It keeps me young.”

Morning does most of his sprint training with Marty Krulee, a former world-class sprinter and Rocklin resident who will compete in the WMA Championships. Morning would have tested his fitness at the recent Pacific Association masters meet had he not been occupied as the co-meet director. He skipped a tune-up meet in Davis because it was held on Sunday, and he takes his duties as a youth worship leader at First Baptist Church in Fair Oaks seriously.

“I’ve competed on Sundays before when it was a really big meet, but I prefer not to,” Morning said.

Morning and his wife have four children, two of whom are grown and out of the house. One of their daughters, Kellyn, graduated from Roseville High School and is headed to Nevada to play college soccer.

In addition to running his own speed training business for soccer and baseball players, Morning will assist the WMA local organizing committee as one of the public-address announcers when he’s not competing in the 100, 200 and relay.

As he gets set to climb back into the starting blocks, he’s hoping for the best.

“Some sprinters my age have difficulty running rounds,” Morning said. “I like it. I’m very optimistic.”