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Spotlight on Former Athlete: John Morris Football ’27-’29,Men’s Basketball ’27-’30,Track ’28-’30 &It is rare that a person excelled in so many areas that all of them cannot be included in the title of this story on the title bar, but such is the case with John Morriss. Due to space constraints, Golf ’27-’28 and Coaches ’47-’49 could not be included in the title of the announcement of John Morriss’ being placed in the "Spotlight on Former Athlete". A three-sport letterman in football, basketball, and track at Lafayette High School (Lafayette, La), he continued his participation in those sports at SLI and for two years added Golf to his hectic schedule. Click here to view the Athletic Network profile of Johnny Morriss: http://athleticnetwork.net/site.php?pageID=55&profID=1966 Click here to view Johnny with his teammates of the 1927 SLI Football Squad: http://athleticnetwork.net/site1583.php# The press release by the University of Houston of his appointment to the Drake Relays Hall of Fame best summarizes his track accomplishments, as follows: "Morriss tied the NCAA high hurdles record of 14.6 in 1930 en route to becoming the first athlete to earn All-American honors in track at Southwestern Louisiana. An alternate on the 1932 Olympic team, he toured Europe in 1933 and won 17 straight hurdles races, tying the world record of 14.3. He won the hurdles in 14.5 in the 1933 World Games in Turin, Italy." Johnny Morriss was a student athlete of the finest order. A student leader, he was interested in his fellow students and the activities offered for them at SLI. The picture below typifies his involvement in student activities. Southwestern delegates to the 5th Annual Congress of the National Student Federations at Stanford University, Jan. 1-4, 1930. (L-R) John Morris; C. Girard Davidson, President of Student Body; Vincent Saia; Julius Boutte. In an article entitled "Former UH track coach, record holder Morriss dies" by Jerry Wizig published in the Houston Chronicle on May 13, 1993, many track accomplishments of Morriss were cited. This anecdote was included in the article: "After winning the national AAU meet to qualify for the 1932 Olympic Trials at Palo Alto, California, Morriss used his father’s railroad pass to get to the meet in those days of the Great Depression. Friends in his hometown of Lafayette, Louisiana took up a collection of about $150 to pay the rest of his expenses. He often described that support ‘as one of the greatest things that ever happened to me’. Meet officials selected Morriss as an alternate for the U.S. Team in Los Angeles. Later, he beat the Olympic champ in the British Empire Games. Born July 23, 1908 in Lafayette, Morriss was greeted by a crowd of 5,000 at the Lafayette railroad station when he returned from setting the world record and winning 14 straight races in a 1933 tour of Europe. In winning 20 consecutive races in 1932-33, he set six world records." When Morriss returned to Lafayette in 1933, the picture below was taken of SLI President Edwin Stephens, Johnny Morriss and Robert L. Browne, Athletic Director and Morriss’ track coach, on the track at McNaspy Stadium.
In one post-Olympic meet at Cleveland’s Municipal Stadium, the hurdles were placed down the first base line and hurdles number four, five, and six curved out towards the outfield. Before the crowd of 80,000 Morriss ran a 14.6 for an unofficial world record on a curved dirt track. The results are shown in the posting of The Track & Field News of the 1933 high hurdles. The Track & Field News Archive:Results on their website includes
In the picture below Johnny Morriss is carrying the flag for the USA team in the 1933 World Student Games in Turin Italy. Morriss was chosen flag bearer. Courtesy of Grant Mehlhoff, UH.
Morriss served as the track coach at SLI from 1947-49. The team won the conference title in each of his years as head track coach and in ’48 and ’49 he was selected as "Coach of the Year." Click here to view pictures of the 1948 Track team (Coach Morriss is on the left side of the front row): http://athleticnetwork.net/site558.php Click here to view Johnny Morriss’ induction into the USTFCCCA Hall of Fame: When Morriss passes away, the University of Houston issued (in part) the following news release on May 12, 1993: A picture of the Johnny Morriss, Jr. family taken in 1987 is below.
Johnny Morriss, Jr., Judy Morriss Jones, Winona "Nona" Schlesinger Morriss, Peggy Morriss Vineyard, Johnny Morriss, III. An amusing anecdote of the activities leading up to Johnny, III signing his NCAA national letter of intent to become a member of the University of Houston Cougar Track Program is included in Johnny’s profile. This meant Johnny, Jr. was going to be his college coach. Click here for a picture of coach and son http://athleticnetwork.net/picpopup.php?piclibID=8740 The Johnny Morriss, Jr. Family has grown since the 1987 picture. Please find below a picture of his family taken on Memorial Day 2008.
Back Row (L-R): Craig Jones,Jerry Stone(my son-in-law), David Jones & wife Martha,Judy Morriss Jones,John Morriss III,Peggy Morriss Vineyard,Rob Kimmel(my son-in-law),Linda Morriss, Meredith Pollak(Peggy’s daughter)Mike Pollak; Knelling: Patti Morriss Kimmel(my daughter), next to her in hat Stacey Jones(Craig Jones’ wife); Sitting: Kristy Stone(my daughter). On right front in blue shirt, Tommy Miller (Peggy’s son), and on his right, Charlotte (Tommy’s wife), and the grandchildren and great grandchildren of Johnny, Jr. and Winona Schlesinger Morriss. Johnny Morris, Jr. Family pictures and captions provided by Johnny Morriss, III. The Athletic Network is honored to place the "Spotlight on Former Athlete" on Johnny Morriss, a prominent UL Athletic Hall of Fame member (1956 Inductee), during the month of May, 2009. The Photo Gallery on the left side of the home page at http://www.athleticnetwork.net contains over 8,000 pictures of former and current athletes and support groups. Just click on photo gallery and when the menu appears, click on the sport or support group you wish to view. The years of pictures posted for that team or group will appear and you may click on the year you wish to view. One click on a thumbnail picture or narrative and it is enlarged; a click on the enlarged photo and it reverts back to the thumbnail. The Athletic Network seeks to post pictures of each team and support group for each year they represented the university.
The stories of the 2008 honorees are still included in the News Page and may be viewed by clicking on "more news" at the bottom right of the News Box. Those spotlight features which are no longer shown in the News Page, have been moved to the Lagniappe Link of the "History of UL Athletics" located on the left side of the home page.
The Spotlight on Former Athletes announcement has also been placed in the profile of each honoree, excluding the pictures. The 2009 honorees in the Athletic Network "Spotlight on Former Athletes" include: January – Tim Thompson Men’s Basketball 1957-61. February – Gene Bacque Baseball 1956 & 57. March – Dr. Louis "Lou" Bowers Track & Field 1955, Tennis 1956-58, Wrestling Coach 1964-66. April – Dr. Carter Lomax, Jr. Tennis 1974-76. May – Johnny Morris, Jr. Football 1927-29,Men’s Basketball 1927-30,Track & Field 1928-30, Golf 1927-28, Coaches 1947-49 . Ed Dugas, Coordinator
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