St. Joseph grad Trinity Lockwood-Morris taps into new talent with Pitt-Greensburg cross country team
Share this post:
Throughout a three-sport high school career at St. Joseph, Trinity Lockwood-Morris did her share of running. Whether it was on the soccer pitch or up and down a basketball court — or during offseason training for both — running was a part of her life.
But it wasn’t something she had done competitively. During her sophomore year at Pitt-Bradford, she decided not to play basketball and instead set her sights on training for a half marathon.
Last fall — just about a year ago to the day — she accomplished that feat, running a half marathon in Ellicottville, N.Y., about an hour south of Buffalo.
After getting a taste of the race atmosphere, Lockwood-Morris, who also played volleyball at St. Joseph, decided it was time give it a try at the college level. Pitt-Bradford didn’t have a cross country team, so she looked into transferring to Pitt-Greensburg to join coach Jeremy Eshelman’s program.
Despite a lack of experience in cross country, Lockwood-Morris, a junior, wound up as the top runner for the Bobcats women’s team and finished just one place out of all-conference range at the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference championship meet.
She also has returned to the basketball court, joining the UPG women’s team for the winter season. Through UPG’s first three games — the Bobcats were 0-3 entering Saturday’s game against Case Western Reserve — Lockwood-Morris had started each, averaging 0.7 points and 4.7 rebounds and sharing the team lead in assists (eight) and steals (four).
Getting back into basketball mode after not playing last season might take some time, but Lockwood-Morris was an instant success with the cross country team.
“I could tell she was a very competitive person,” Eshelman said. “She wanted to test herself at cross country. She had done a lot of running on her own and, from my understanding, kind of self-coached and would hop into road races here and there but never ran competitively before.
“She was definitely going to be a good runner just based on what she was telling me she was running in the road races and on her own.”
Added Lockwood-Morris: “I don’t like losing, and I love pushing myself and achieving new things that I never thought I could before. If you would have told me two years ago that I would have a half marathon and several college (cross country) races under my belt, I probably would have said you’re lying.”
In her first collegiate race, a four-team event hosted by Westmoreland County Community College, she was the Bobcats’ top runner, finishing the 5K in 13th in a time of 25 minutes, 34.80 seconds.
There were challenges, to be sure. Because of her lack of experience in cross country, Eshelman said, Lockwood-Morris needed a crash course in race strategy.
“You could tell she was never really in that environment before,” he said. “That was definitely something me and her talked about a lot this year. You could tell she seemed a little out of place the first couple of races.”
Experimentation followed. Starting fast seemed to leave her with little left in the tank for the second half of the race. Trying to set a steadier pace early led to being lulled into a “comfort zone” in the middle of the pack.
By the end of the season, Eshelman and Lockwood-Morris reached more of a middle ground on how she would attack races. She would go out on the faster side then try to hang on.
Though even by conference championship match, it was clear she hadn’t fully cracked the code.
Coming into the final stages of the race, Lockwood-Morris was in ninth and in position for all-conference honors. (The top 10 finishers earned all-conference.) But two runners passed her in the final 200 meters, and she had to settle for 11th place.
Still, Lockwood-Morris was pleased with her trajectory.
“I think it was definitely a work in progress,” she said. “I definitely struggled with race strategy and knowing how far I could push myself. … My first race to my last race, there was a big difference.
“It definitely was a little bit of a sour note to finish on, but, at the same time, I never would have thought I would be anywhere close to finishing near all-conference at the beginning of the season.”
Now it’s on to basketball season for the 5-foot-8 guard/forward. As much as she has fallen in love with running, Lockwood-Morris said basketball still is her No. 1. sport, mainly because it is the one she has done the longest.
She still is becoming acquainted with her new teammates at UPG. In fact, the early part of the season will be mostly a feeling-out process for the team as a whole. Much of the roster is new, and coach Julie Bolden is in her first season at the helm.
Lockwood-Morris is looking forward to being able to contribute more as she and the team get more comfortable.
“I think I see the court really well, and I’m a big communicator,” she said. “I’m never quiet when I’m on the court. … Just kind of being that voice for people if you’re out of sorts a little bit, just getting the team together.”
Meanwhile, she has her sights set on some new running goals.
She is training for the Pittsburgh Marathon, which will take place May 4. She also is anticipating a strong senior cross country season next fall.
“Next year,” she said, “it won’t even be a question for that top 10 (in the conference). I definitely wasn’t expecting to fall in love with cross country as much as I did.”