They call him Smoke.
It’s a pretty good nickname for a sprinter. Homewood-Flossmoor sophomore Zion Morrison’s mother Senita Patton gave him the moniker.
“I used to beat the kids by a lot back when I was younger,” he said. “They would say dust was behind me when I run.”
Morrison will bring the smoke to the state championship meet on May 30 and 31 at Eastern Illinois University after winning four events at the Class 3A Lockport sectional on May 21. His 10.75 was good for first in the 100, 21.64 was tops in the 200, 14.07 won the 110 hurdles and he anchored the winning 400-meter relay team that posted a 42.21.
The times are impressive, but none were personal bests for Morrison. He finished the 200 at 21.23 on May 14 at Thornton Township to set a new school record. His other personal records are a 10.64 100 and a 13.97 110 hurdles, also an H-F record. The 400 relay team tallied a 41.55 at Thornton.
And all this before Morrison even finishes his sophomore year.
“I knew he was good. I didn’t think he’d be this good this early,” Vikings coach Nate Beebe said. “He just wanted more and more. ‘What can I do? I want to get faster.’ Whatever we threw at him, he took to it.”
It could’ve happened sooner. Morrison missed the outdoor season last year with a hip flexor injury. Beebe said H-F coaches knew after the indoor season that Morrison was going to be special and would be missed.
“I really took (the injury) personally. During the offseason, I trained real hard. I trained to the point where it felt like I could do anything I put my mind to,” Morrison said. “That’s why I came here saying ‘I’m going to break all the records.’”
Four events, including a hurdle race, can be a lot during a single meet. Beebe said he believes that in order to be a great hurdler, an athlete needs to first be a good sprinter. The original plan was to let Morrison dabble in the hurdles but he quickly became the team’s best at both.
He’ll probably need to place in multiple events if H-F scores like it wants to in Charleston. The Vikings head to the state finals as the No. 1 ranked team in Class 3A.
“Ever since the first day of practice, we came in with the mindset that we want to be state champions,” Morrison said. “We worked like state champions.”
A state title would be the second for the Vikings in three years. Beebe said the chemistry with this team reminds him of the 2023 one that reached the mountain top. There may not be as much room for error in this year’s squad but many of the key contributors, like Morrison, are underclassmen. A foundation exists that may keep H-F among the best programs in the state for years.
“We’ve put ourselves in about the best position as we possibly can,” Beebe said. “(A championship) would solidify us as a state powerhouse, a program that everybody can go ‘That’s what we want to be like.’ It would mean an awful lot.”
