While the “field” segment of track and field is sometimes lesser-known both at Sacred Heart and beyond, both Maxime Morelle and Samora Stephens excel in their respective events. After years of chasing their goals, these two standout seniors have committed to Claremont Mudd-Scripps and Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), respectively, with Morelle committing to be a dual-sport athlete at the Division III level. 

Maxime Morelle ‘26: Carnegie Mellon University

While Morelle has only been playing football for four years, he’s been surrounded by the track and field world for six years, competing in both discus and shot put. Because it is a less popular sport, he was advised by his weightlifting trainer at the time to get into it, and “things just kind of took off.” Morelle was similarly introduced to football. After playing for fun with friends, he realized he had a strong passion for it and started considering pursuing it in college, “both because of [his] love for the sport, and the connections you make through it.” Even now, Morelle continues to master both sports, training year-round in the offseason for football, and competing in indoor track and field events during the winter. 

During his junior year of high school, Morelle began to attract interest from various coaches at colleges and universities in both sports, which “motivated [him] to take [his] game seriously and train harder.” This came right after he decided to transfer to Sacred Heart Prep from Los Altos High School, going into junior year, a decision that “had a little bit to do with sports,” but mostly had to do with education and access to schools after high school that shared his high academic standards. And while “academics always came first” for him, he also “wanted to take [his] football to the next level,” and he thought SHP would be the perfect environment to do so. Morelle continued his hard work on the track because he recognized that “it’s not dependent on a team, it’s mostly dependent on yourself.” That meant staying focused and taking care of what was in his control. Morelle understood that personal accountability was necessary to excel at a collegiate level.

During his recruitment journey, Morelle needed to consider  which sport he wanted to pursue at a collegiate level, and he realized that he “wasn’t willing to give up one for the other.” He recognized that this decision might interfere with his recruitment, because many coaches — especially at the Division I level — wanted him to hone in on just one of the two once he reached college. He told recruiters that he “wanted to be able to play both sports,” and weighed his interest in schools based on whether that would be a reality. Many coaches told Morelle that the demands of two sports and academics would be too much to handle, but CMU saw that he was more than ready for the challenge. It “provides [him] with the time to do everything, both with sports and academics.” 

Morelle considered some walk-on opportunities he received from big Division One programs, but he didn’t like how they weren’t guaranteed. The well-known “walk-on football powerhouse story” didn’t appeal to him, and he recalls wanting to “find somewhere that appreciates and really wants” him and all he had to offer. Morelle knew he was ready to commit to CMU when they encouraged him to play both sports.. 

Looking back, Morelle considers his decision to transfer to Sacred Heart as an important step in his recruitment success. He said that SHP has a “stronger foundation than [his] old public school, especially recruiting-wise.” The fact that coaches could now come visit him in person played a huge role, along with the willingness of the SHP coaching staff to reach out to college recruiters in order to promote their athletes and support them throughout the process. “Coming here has been positive overall,” he said, and “it improved [his] recruitment one thousand percent.” Beyond that, Morelle is grateful for the connections he’s gained with teammates and glad he was able to meet so many new people who have made an impact on his life, even outside of sport. 

Morelle is looking forward to the next four years of both his football and track and field careers, aiming to “just try [his] best and see how far it goes.” He has big dreams to compete in the 2028 Olympics for track, but would also consider transferring to a Division I program to further his football career, depending on “where the passion lies in the end.” Morelle urges SHP students to never back down when they have something they want, “even when others seem to go against it.” He recalls battling outside voices and invisible forces trying to push him toward certain schools during his process, but he reminds others either entering or in the midst of the process to not “give up anything for the sake of others, because it’s up to you in the end.” Go Tartans!

Samora Stephens ‘26: Claremont Mudd-Scripps

While you might know Samora Stephens from the theater stage or from her Women’s Talent Show performances, she is also a stellar track and field prodigy who, after only a year of throws, is committed to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (CMS). While attending Scripps College starting this fall, Stephens plans to “fully dedicate [herself] to the sport at the next level. 

Since throwing was “the first sport [she’s] ever played in high school,” Stephens said it was “really special” when CMS became the first school to ever reach out to her. Starting throws much later than most others would, she found it “exciting to even be on a coach’s radar, and did everything in her power to make pursuing her sport in college a reality. That came with consistent communication with coaches, updating them on her progress on the track, in the gym, and in the classroom, sometimes even through her Instagram account specifically made for recruiting. Stephens said that the process “showed [her] how much [she] is capable of,” especially since she had to learn to balance theatre and sports. Over time, Scripps “just felt like the right fit both athletically and academically,” and she loves the campus. 

Since Stephens does not participate in any “club sport” form of track and field, she’s had to put in countless hours of work to perform at events where she’s representing Sacred Heart. Stephens’ hard work paid off when she earned the Top Newcomer Award her junior year, placed 1st in WBAL All-League for shot put, and finished the season ranked 10th in CCS. She attributes much of the success in her process to joining the track at SHP, which “completely changed” her path. Playing a sport here was never in her plans, but after some encouragement from Coach Beck, she ended up trying shot put, which was “one of the best decisions” she has ever made. Stephens said that “the support and opportunity [she] got here really shaped [her] recruitment journey.” Following this decision during the spring of her junior year, recruitment began around last summer, before Stephens “even had a college list.” She had already proven to others what she could do, so once Stephens realized that if she “truly put [her] heart into it,” she could take her skillset much further. 

At Scripps College, Stephens is “really hoping to find a strong sense of community.” She’s already witnessed and loved the way that track has been able to bring together such a diverse group of people, and she is excited to continue building similar connections in college. She has big dreams of hopefully breaking a school record sometime during her tenure there. Stephens said that “it is never too late to start,” a reality that has been true both in her life and her brother’s. They are two examples of student athletes who tried new sports during their junior year of high school and ended up going to college for them. “If you put in the time and effort and keep the right mindset, you can go further than you think,” she said. Stephens asserts that it “will not always be easy” to find balance, but in the end, it will pay off. Go Athenas!