Utica University Athletics

2012: Payne earned Empire 8 First-Team All-Conference status while leading the Pioneers in every race in his third year campaign…  He opened up the year leading the Pioneers and placing 30th overall, out of 100+ runners from Division I, II and III, at the Colgate University Invite on 9/1/12…  He followed up with an impressive victory the next week at the Cobleskill Invitational as he took first place out of 100 racers with a final time of 29:19.36, beating the competition across the line by .35…  He continued strong with a another solid finish at the Williams Invite on 9/22/12 placing 15th, out of 206 runners, to lead the Pioneers with a time of 26.51… Payne then clocked a time of 26:35 on 10/6/12 at the Hamilton College XC Invitational, just five seconds off the lead, for a third place finish…  One of his best outings of the season, however, came at the NYSCTC Championships on 10/20/12 as he ran to a second place finish out of 143 runners with a final clock of 25:54.73, less than a tenth of a second from the win… On 10/27/12 at the Empire 8 Championships, Payne posted a third place overall finish clocking a final time of 26:24.70, out of a 82 man field…  He wrapped up the season with a 49th place tally, out of 297 racers, at the 2012 NCAA DIII Atlantic Regional Cross Country Championships with a time of 26:30.

2011: The reigning 2010 XC Rookie of the Year followed up with another stellar campaign as he led UC in almost every race and was named to the Empire 8 All-Conference Second-Team…  He opened up the season at the Colgate Invite placing 10th, out of 44 racers, with a final time of 21:49…  The UC standout followed up with an impressive second place tally, out of a 148 man field, at the Oswego State XC Invite as he clocked a time of 26:43, just three seconds shy of the win…  Payne placed 20th, out of 197 runners, the next week at the Purple Valley Classic with a final time of 27:08…  He went on to take 13th place in each of his next two races clocking a final time of 26:41 at the NYSCTC’s and 27:03 at the Empire 8’s.

2010: The top finisher for the Pioneers at the Cobleskill Invite (9/11/10) with a time of 28:30.7, placing 8th overall … Ran a season-best 26:53.2 at the Pre-Regional meet held at Oneonta (9/17/10) … Earned a 9th-place finish at the Hamilton Invite (10/9/10) with a time of 27:42 … Earned Rookie of the Meet honors at the Empire 8 Championships on 10/31/10 with a time of 27:10 … Placed 87th at the NCAA Atlantic Regional’s in Oneonta (11/13/10) out of 268 with a time of 26:55.4.

Originally from Williamstown, NY, Morgan is the son of Rodney and Florence Scott-Payne.