The Tulane University women’s swimming and diving team added a another talented newcomer during the NCAA Early Signing period as Fort Mitchell, Ky., native and Notre Dame Academy product Lilly Morgan signed a National Letter of Intent to join the Green Wave, head coach Katie Robinson announced Thursday.
Morgan, who is also a member of the Northern Kentucky Clippers club team, becomes the sixth incoming freshman to sign with Tulane for the 2015-16 season as swimmers Natalie Clausen, Nina Gonzalez, Emily Ramier and Shelly Zelnick joined diver Caroline McCleary inked NLIs earlier in the week. All six signees will have their full allotment of eligibility and are expected to add to the talents of a team slated to return 16 letterwinners from the current roster.
“Lilly comes from a very good program in Kentucky and has a tremendous amount of potential as a sprinter,” Robinson said. “Not only is she gloriously six-feet tall, she also has an incredible amount of room for strength improvement. Her drive to improve has been evident in all our conversations with her, much like the rest of this recruiting class. She will fit in very well and add strength to our sprint group. We believe in a couple years she will be a force to be reckoned with within the American Athletic Conference and possibly on the national level as well.
“Additionally, she is an outstanding and ambitious student. She has been impressed with what Tulane has to offer academically and is looking forward to attending our great University. She will thrive in so many ways here at Tulane and we welcome her gladly to fill out our recruiting class.”
Rated the No. 8 swimmer in Kentucky by CollegeSwimming.com, Morgan brings top times of 24.17 in the 50 free, 57.31 in the 100 back, 2:05.66 in the 200 back, 1:05.81 in the 100 breast and 2:08.44 in the 200 IM to the Green Wave program.
As a junior last season, she claimed consolation All-America status in the 200 medley and 400 free relays, swimming leadoff for both events and helping the units to third- and fourth-place finishes, respectively, during the 2014 Kentucky High School Athletic Association Championship. In addition, Morgan earned first-team All-Cincinnati Area honors in the 50 free, 100 back, 200 medley relay and 400 free relay while winning all four events at the Region 4 Championship. At the state meet, she added seventh-place individual finishes in both the 50 free and the 100 back.
Morgan also helped the 400 free relay team post a state runner-up showing as a sophomore while adding individual finishes of fifth in the 100 back and 10th in the 200 IM. She won the Northern Kentucky Athletic Conference title in the 50 free that year and helped lead Notre Dame to No. 3 finish at the state championship as a freshman.
While Green Wave fans will have to wait until next fall to see the six-member signing class in action, the current Tulane team returns to action on Nov. 21, when they close out the fall portion of the schedule with the start of the Pearland (Texas) Invitational. The 2014-15 team’s next home meet is slated for Jan. 24 when the Wave play host to North Texas in the Reily Center. Prior to the start of that meet, Tulane will honor the senior class of Morgan Evans, Molly Jubas, Vanessa Loewen, Amy Needham, Claire Schelske, and Laura Turpen with a special ceremony and admission is free.
College Swimming News is courtesy of Tulane University swimming and diving.