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 Time
is an interesting concept in Kareem Morris’ life, measured so often in
the blink of an eye or the beat of a heart, fractions of seconds he
chases in pursuit of a distant finish line.
Rio 2016. The Summer Olympics.
First there was the matter of 14-hundredths of a second – don’t blink or
you’ll miss it!
Since the end of his junior year, that’s all that had separated Morris
from his best time in the 200 meters and the longstanding Albany High
School record he so badly wanted to take with him when he moves on to
the University at Albany in the fall.
Taking on all challenges during a stellar do-it-all senior season –
Morris won four events at the Section II track championships May 28 – he
got down to one of his last chances.
Then he blew away the 200 school record at the state qualifying meet
June 4 – his time of 21.74 seconds topping the 21.94 Gary Ramsey ran in
1987 (Capital Education went to press before the June 11-12 state
championships).
Now Morris is intent on his next goal – as much of two full seconds as
he can reel in over the next six years. That’s just a heartbeat or two,
though it can be an eternity in a sprinter’s life.
He’ll take it one heartbeat at a time.
Shaving a second or just a little more would give him a chance at the
2016 U.S. Olympic trials. Take off another second and throw in another
blink or two and anything is possible.
If Morris does reach his ultimate goal, he will follow in the fleet
footsteps of another Albany High graduate, Tracy Baskins ’83, who
competed in the 800 meters in the 1998 Summer Olympics.
Stan Gasorowski coached Baskins at Albany High – and every other member
of the boys’ track and field team over the last 34 seasons. He ranks
Morris among the top three athletes he has coached, and perhaps the best
all around.
“He can long jump, he can high jump, he can triple jump, he’s a great
sprinter,” Gasorowski said. “He can do it all. The best thing about him
is he is very humble and just goes about his business.”
Morris received the Director’s Cup at the annual sports banquet June 2,
the award given to Albany High’s top athlete of the school year.
Soft-spoken and mild-mannered, Morris points to the Falcons’ repeat
championship at the prestigious William F. Eddy Jr. Meet at Union
College in May as a highlight of his senior season (Albany High’s 2009
Eddy championship was its first in 27 years).
“That was a great accomplishment, and it was for the whole team as
well,” he said.
In the fall, Morris will study computer science at UAlbany – “people
probably wouldn’t think that I’m a computer geek,” he joked – and
continue accelerating toward that sultry summer samba six years from now
in South America’s most glamorous city.
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