Cheney swimmer looks to the sky
When some little girls dream about what they want to do when they grow up, those dreams often slowly drift away.
Some of them don’t stop with dreaming. They put together an action plan – and go for it.
Morgan Landreaux, who just graduated from Cheney High School, is on her way to realizing her girlhood dreams.
When she was a child of 11 living at Lakenheath Air Force Base in England, where her family was stationed, Landreaux discovered the joy of competitive swimming – and decided that was something she was going to do.
She also took walks along a nature trail not far from the family’s home, a trail that passed by the flight line, where she was spellbound at seeing F-15s roar up into the sky. She thought it would be very cool to be a pilot.
Fast-forward to present day. Landreaux – the 2A District swimmer of the year, recipient of the Cheney Mayor’s Award for swimming and the Great Northern League’s athlete of the year – is departing next week for the U.S. Air Force Academy, where she hopes to graduate in 2011 and begin a career as an Air Force pilot.
Landreaux, 18, is ready. This summer, it’s off for basic training, then four years of intense study. She’s not naive about how hard it will be.
She attended a summer seminar at the academy last year and got a firsthand, no-sugar-coating taste of what it’s going to be like.
Plus, her father Lt. Col. Darrell Landreaux, deputy group commander of the medical group at Fairchild Air Force Base and medical support squadron commander, had a real heart-to-heart with her.
He explained that at first she won’t be able to do anything right and how she will be torn down, then built up into being a leader. Then he told her to shoot for the stars, that she could become the first female four-star chief of staff if she aimed for it.
The daughter of a career military officer, Landreaux finds that prospect quite appealing. As she said in her letter to the Air Force Academy when she applied, “Nothing would make me more proud than to graduate from the Air Force Academy, follow in my father’s footsteps and serve my country.”
And while she’s at Colorado Springs, she will continue with her other passion. She will swim for the Air Force Academy team (NCAA Division 1), her specialty being the breast stroke.
She’s worked hard at swimming since she first took it up back in England, and it’s paid off with numerous awards and swim meet records.
Landreaux stays in shape by participating in triathlons (she finished second in the female under-age-30 division at the Clear Lake Triathlon last summer), biking and lifting weights. She graduated 13th out of 256 in her class at Cheney High School, has worked on Habitat for Humanity homes, helped out at the Special Olympics in Spokane and had a sports medicine internship at the Fairchild Hospital.
The Air Force Academy considers scholarship, community service and awards in its admissions process, a rigorous procedure Landreaux began working on a year ago. She received a letter of nomination from Rep. Cathy McMorris, R-Wash., as well as a presidential nomination.
Landreaux already knows she loves the military life – after all, she’s lived it her whole life – and understands the sacrifices and service it calls for.
There’s another Landreaux waiting in the wings with very similar dreams. Sister Alexa, who turned 17 this week, is also a competitive swimmer and hopes to attend the Air Force Academy. She is beginning her quest for that goal this summer.
“How cool would that be?” asks big sister Morgan. “The two of us at the Air Force Academy together!”