EDWARDSVILLE - Many times in the past year, Edwardsville High School swim coach Christian Rhoten has commented about the work ethic of one of his swimmers - Morgan Rockwell.
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Rockwell recently signed a letter of intent to attend Millikin University on a swim/triathlon scholarship.
“I was looking at her times when she first started at Edwardsville High School and her first 100 fly time for us was a 1:23 as a freshman and her senior year she did a 1:04,” Rhoten said.
“That is an almost 20-second time drop. In an event like the 100 butterfly over four years is a massive time drop in an event that is only a minute of swimming.
“It all comes back to hard work and work on technique. She made it a point to keep getting stronger in the weight room and pool. She had some lofty goals and swimming in college was one of them. So she was able to achieve those results.
“I know one of her goals her senior year was to make the sectional team for us which is a very competitive squad to be a part of, only two in each event. That was a goal from the beginning of her junior year and took a lot of hard work to get there. She doesn’t talk a lot but works hard in the pool and in the classroom and it shows through in her actions.”
Rockwell said she is very excited to do swimming and triathlon in college and is hoping to expand her horizon and be on a team at Millikin. Rockwell is also an honor roll student, which made her even more appealing to the Millikin recruiters.
She said running is not new to her: “I have run on the side for Crossfit and hope to do a lot more with biking at college. I ran middle school track. The triathlon is an extra bonus because I have always enjoyed running. I also like to bike, too. I run a lot on my own. I plan to work hard in college.”
Rockwell said she fell in love with the Millikin campus and the coach was really nice.
“The coach seemed to know a lot about swimming and was willing to help me,” she said.
One of Rockwell’s good friends, Hope Roderick, a former EHS swimmer, also swims at Millikin and is a triathlon athlete.
“I think Hope will help me in my transition,” she said. “I plan to major in environmental science and I hope to become a wildlife conservationist in the future.”
The Edwardsville swimmer personally thanked Coach Rhoten and all the Edwardsville coaches for guiding her to success. She said Coach Rhoten always cares about every swimmer on the team from the lowest to the best, something she admires.
Rockwell said she believes as Rhoten says her hard work has been the key and she wants to continue that in college.
“I want to make sure I am constant with my training and in the classroom and never give up,” she said.
