Lucas Morgan makes five.

William Woods University (WWU) in Fulton is building quite the pipeline between Gasconade and Callaway County with now five former Owensville High School track and field athletes competing in Owl country.

Joining fellow OHS Class of 2023 member Saylor Richardson, Morgan signed his letter of intent to continue his academic and athletic pursuits in Fulton as a member of the WWU Owl Track and Cross Country teams.

“I toured the campus and liked it,” Morgan said. “I also like the coaches and it will also be nice to compete with four former teammates.”

Richardson and Morgan will join current WWU Track and Field athletes Kyah Weirich, Freddy Zheng and Mekayla Gibson making it a quintet of Owensville athletes donning Kelly green and white uniforms.

During his senior season, Morgan won a Four Rivers Conference (FRC) title as a member of the varsity boys 4x800-meter relay team.

Placing 10th in the boys 1600m run, Morgan improved on that finish earning All-District honors in the event with a fourth-place time of 5:11.58 during the Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHSAA) Class 3, District 5 Track Meet held at Waynesville High School.

Qualifying for sectionals in that event, Morgan also placed eighth in the boys 3200m run helping Owensville top the field by nearly 60 points to win a district team title along with their Dutchgirl counterparts.

“It was an awesome feeling to be a part of not only winning a district title with the boys but also seeing the girls claim a district title,” Morgan said.

Morgan’s best finish in the 3200m run came with a seventh-place time of 11:22.80 at the FRC Track Meet hosted by New Haven High School.

Following their conference title in the boys 4x800m relay, Morgan helped Layne Evans, Felix Guerrero and Kyle Bollman claim All-District honors in Waynesville with a second-place time of 9:14.47.

As a senior on the Dutchmen cross country team, Morgan helped the orange and black shock the FRC by winning a team title following the annual meet held at Big Driver in Washington.

Morgan’s third-place time of 18:07.09 was his fastest time and best finish of the season.

“Lucas really helped us shock the conference last fall at Big Driver,” OHS head cross country coach Matt Candrl said. “Our guys just really wanted it that day and Lucas was a big part of it.”

Along with his third-place finish during the FRC meet, Morgan also placed eighth inside the top 10 at both the Hermann and Owensville Invitational Cross Country meets.

As a junior in the spring of 2022, Morgan’s best showing on the track came during the annual FRC track meet where he earned All-Conference honors with a second-place time of 10:54.55 in the varsity boys 3200m run.

Morgan also helped Harm Rademacher, Guerrero and Zheng earn All-FRC honors in the varsity boys 4x800m relay during the spring of 2022 with a third-place time of 9:16.12.

That same quartet just missed All-District honors placing fifth at the MSHSAA Class 3, District 5 track meet.

During his junior season of cross country, Morgan earned All-FRC and All-District honors allowing him to spend the first Saturday of November in Columbia competing in the MSHSAA Cross Country Championships held at the Gans Creek Cross Country Course.

Finishing 16th at Hermann in early October as a junior, Morgan claimed All-FRC honors with a ninth-place time of 18:21.5.

Dropping eight seconds off of that time during the MSHSAA Class 3, District 3 Meet at the Osage County Fairgrounds in Linn, Morgan finished 23rd in 18:13.1 earning him a spot in the Class 3 boys race at state in Columbia.

Slashing another 25 seconds off his district time, Morgan ended his junior year with a 55th-place time of 17:48.2 in Columbia.

On the track as a sophomore in the spring of 2021, Morgan made the most of that season after his freshman campaign was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Helping a pair of relay teams win FRC titles, Morgan along with Ethan Harris, Noah Holtmeyer and Guerrero won the varsity boys 4x400m relay in a time of 4:06.36.

Also winning a FRC title in the varsity boys 4x800m relay that spring was the Dutchmen quartet of Trevor Shockley, Rademacher, Holtmeyer and Morgan in a time of 10:07.72.