Lisa Morgan, one of the most successful track and field coaches in NJ high school history, has been named as an assistant ccoach for cross-country and for the distance program at Vanderbilt University.
Morgan joins the Commodores as a 30-plus year coaching veteran and a six-time Team USA Track & Field Coach.
Prior to her arrival at Vanderbilt, Morgan spent three years as an assistant coach at New Jersey Institute of Technology, and prior that, she was the head men's and women's cross country coach and assistant track and field coach at Texas Christian University (TCU) from January 2020-2022. Morgan became the head men's and women's cross-country coach at Bloomfield College in September of 2015 and established the first men's and women's outdoor track and field program at the Essex County school in 2016.
A two-time CACC Men's Track and Field Coach of the Year in 2017 and 2018, Morgan guided the men's track and field team at Bloomfield to the CACC Outdoor Conference Championship in 2018 and took second place in the women's track and field CACC Outdoor Conference Championships in 2017 and 2018.
Morga started her coaching career at Seton Hall University as Associate head coach of men's and women's cross country and track and field programs from 1993-2003. During her time, Morgan guided the Pirates to 23 school records, coached 45 Big East champions, 26 NCAA All-Americans and nine NCAA Champions. She led the women's team to a third-place NCAA finish in 1994.
Morgan also holds international coaching experience with Team USA Track & Field. In 2011, she served as the distance coach at the IAAF World Youth Championships in France and head manager at the IAAF World Youth Championships in Ukraine. In 2014, she coached Team USA at the IAAF World Junior Championships in Eugene, Oregon and 2015 in Cali, Colombia. The following year, she served as head coach at the IAAF World U20 Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland and most recently was an assistant coach at the IAAF World U20 Championships in Cali, Colombia in 2022.
Morgan also served as the head boys cross-country coach and indoor and outdoor boys and girls track and field coach at Columbia High School in Maplewood, her alma mater. She produced the first national championship in the Columbia's history, and became the first high school coach to ever win back-to-back Penn Relay titles in the high school girls 4x800 relay (2013, 2014).
She led Columbia to five consecutive state championships from 2010-2014 and was inducted into the Newark Athletic Hall of Fame in 2014 and the Columbia High School Hall of Fame in 2017. Morgan was also inducted into the 2015 NJ State Coaches Hall of Fame and the NY Armory Hall of Fame in 2016.
Morgan graduated with a Bachelor Degree in Journalism from the University of Kentucky before completing her Master's in Corporate and Public Communication in 2003 at Seton Hall University.
Coaching Highlights
6X Team USA Track & Field Coach
1 Olympian
9 NCAA individual titles (Seton Hall)
45 Big East individual titles (Seton Hall)
5X Hall of Fame inductee as a coach
2017 and 2018 Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Men's Track & Field Coach of the Year
2018 men's track & field CACC team title
2016 NYC Armory Coaches Hall of Fame Inductee
Prior to Vanderbilt
Achievements at New Jersey Institute of Technology - Assistant Coach (2022-24) Morgan most recently worked with the cross country and track and field programs at the New Jersey Institute of Technology where she guided 11 student-athlete to school records and program all-time top 10 marks and America East Conference Honors. During cross country season, she tutored student-athletes to achieving nine school records and three America East bronze medals.
At TCU - Head Cross Country/Assistant Track & Field Coach (2020-22) During her tenure with the Horned Frogs, Morgan coached student-athletes to scoring performances at each Big 12 Championship.
Bloomfield College - Head Coach (2015-20) In 2016, Morgan helped to establish the first men's and women's outdoor track and field program at Bloomfield. She led the men's track and field team to a CACC outdoor title in 2018 and the women to runner-up finishes in 2017 and 2018. In both 2017 and 2018, she was voted the CACC Men's Track & Field Coach of the Year. At Bloomfield, she tutored 37 individual CACC champions from 2016 to 2019.
Columbia High School - Head Coach (2007-15) As the head coach at Columbia High School, she guided Olivia Baker who recorded a time of 52.4 seconds in the 400 meters and split 2:02 in the 800 meters at Penn Relays. There, she also won three consecutive New Jersey Group IV State Team Championships and coached student-athletes to the first Columbia High School national team championship.
Seton Hall - Associate Head Coach (1993-2003) Morgan began her coaching career at Seton Hall where she tutored Flirtisha Harris, the 1994 indoor and outdoor NCAA 400 meters champion. That year, she also guided the indoor and outdoor women's 4×400-meter relay squads to NCAA championships. She also coached two-time Olympian Kenia Sinclair, a Jamaican national champion and 800 meters national record holder. Her coaching efforts helped the Pirates break 23 school records and win 45 Big East and nine NCAA individual and relay titles, with 26 earning All-America honors. In 1994, she contributed to the women's team's third place finish at the NCAA Championships.
Personal
Morgan earned her bachelor's in journalism from Kentucky in 1989 and received her master's in corporate and public communication from Seton Hall in 2003.
Coaching Experience
Assistant Coach at Vanderbilt (2024-present)
Assistant Coach at New Jersey Institute of Technology (2022-24)
Head Cross Country Coach at Assistant Track & Field Coach, TCU (2020-22)
Head Coach at Bloomfield College (2015-20)
Head Coach at Columbia High School (2007-15)
Associate Head Coach at Seton Hall University (1993-2003)
Team USA
Women's Assistant Coach, 2022 IAAF World U20 Championships
Women's Head Coach, 2016 UAAF World U20 Championships•
Men's and Women's Head Coach, 2015 IAAF World Youth Championships
Women's Assistant Coach, 2014 IAAF World Junior Championships
Head Manager, 2013 IAAF World Youth Championships
Distance Coach, 2011 IAAF World Youth Championships