Norman North's Morgan Okroi – Character Counts presented by Integris Express Care of Norman

Written by John Tranchina

As a senior, Morgan Okroi has gradually evolved into a team leader for the Norman North swim team, and it’s a role that she enjoys.

“I’m the Norman North girls captain and I make sure that they’re not missing their races and I make sure they’re on the right path and to having a good season,” she said. “I kind of just encourage them to do their best and arrange team activities. It’s fun, I enjoy organizing things, so it kind of works out.”

One example of her leadership, demonstrating how much of a team-first swimmer Okroi is, is how open she has been to switching events this year. After competing in the 200-yard freestyle, where she finished fourth at the Class 6A West Regional and ninth at the state championship meet last year, and the 500 freestyle (placing fourth at the Regional and 12th at state), Okroi made the change to swim the 50-yard freestyle and the 100 freestyle this off-season.

Norman North did very well at those sprinting races last year but lost those swimmers to graduation. So coach Kent Nicholson had her try them and she was more than willing.

“He’s kind of switching me around and into what he thinks I’m better in,” said Okroi, who also competed in the 400 freestyle relay at state, helping the Timberwolves finish third. “I’ve been doing swimming distance and that’s been my races, but I kind of wanted to switch things up, so this summer I did sprinting events and I did really good.”

In the end, she’s not sure where she will end up, though, possibly going back to the distance races. She just wants to do what’s best for the Timberwolves.

“I think I’m switching back to distance these next couple of meets,” she said. “I’ve been doing weight lifting, and that kind of messed up my stroke, so I think that we’re trying different things to try to fix that now.”

Either way, she envisions a strong season ahead, both from herself and from her team, which tied for fourth last year at state.

“I expect myself to try my best,” Okroi said. “And before my race, think about all the stuff that I’ve learned and all the training that I’ve gone through to get to where I am today and to finish off my senior year with the best that I can do. I’m encouraging all of my teammates to do their best. We all train really hard. I know all of the hard work that we go through, so I’m just expecting us to do our best.”