This past Saturday at the Paul Donahue Invitational, Lydia Morris-Kliment ’27 finished first in the discus throw with a season-best mark of 43.46 meters. Her performance also placed as the 22nd-best throw in Division III. The Needham, MA, native is no stranger to podium dominance: on April 4, Morris-Kliment won gold in the discus at the Ursinus Springfest (42.99 m) and, just a week later, clinched silver at the Bill Butler Invitational (40.80 m). On March 31, the thrower received her fourth career honor as the Centennial Conference Athlete of the Week for a 41.60-meter, second-place throw at the Danny Curran Invitational. At the time of competition, her throw ranked twentieth in Division III. In the 2025 outdoor season, Morris-Kliment finished first in region for discus, placed second at the Centennial Championships, and threw a personal-best 44.36 meters at the MIT Final Qualifier. In her first year, she won gold in the event at the Centennial Championships and placed first at four meets.
Morris-Kliment is an explosive, exciting athlete to watch perform at every meet. The junior thrower takes on her third outdoor Centennial Championship competition from May 1-3, hosted by Gettysburg College in Gettysburg, PA.
Aimee Lee: Congrats on your first-place finish in the discus throw this past weekend at the Paul Donahue Invitational! How does it feel to take home gold, record a season-best throw, and post the 22nd-best mark in the Division III all at the same meet?
Lydia Morris-Kliment: Good! I honestly never check the rankings during the season — it can be a distraction, and I want to stay focused on myself, my training, and my performances. Similarly, I don’t really tend to pay attention to how I place in meets: what’s most important to me is how I’m performing relative to the previous weekend (Am I trending upwards?), but also my marks from around this time last year. But yeah, it feels good. Personal and season bests are what I train for. This outdoor season is what I’ve been training for since last May.
AL: How did you prepare for the Paul Donahue meet? Are there certain cues you have focused on in your training?
LM: I go into each meet focusing on the cues that I have been working on correcting during the last week. Early on in the week, my coach and I will sit down and talk about one or two things I want to improve upon, and then spend the week drilling that cue. This season, I’ve been focusing on identifying specific problems in my throw and changing them as best I can. I’m working on controlling what I actually have control over.
AL: What do you think has been clicking in your performance this spring season? Have you approached competition with a different mindset this year?
LM: Definitely. This year I’ve been focusing on trusting my body, my coach, and my teammates. I spent much of last season chasing a mark. This year, I’ve worked really hard to spend my time and energy focusing on fixing what I can fix. Since my event is so technical, it can be incredibly frustrating when I can’t get my body to move in a certain way or with a certain timing. I literally spend hours a week doing the same motion over and over again, picking the motion apart, figuring out how to do it differently, and then drilling it again. That can be really draining. I’m still in the process of figuring it out, but I’m getting better at learning to have patience for myself, to give myself grace, and to trust the process.
I think I’ve also gotten better at trusting my mind. While lifting and training or drilling are obviously important and lead to success, that won’t matter if I can’t execute while I’m competing — if I don’t believe that I am capable. I think this time around I have less fear. I use each meet as an opportunity to practice competing and to showcase what I’ve been working on. I spend less time worrying about fouling and more time thinking about how, exactly, I’ve prepared for this moment. I’m working on believing that I have the capacity to do better — trusting my training and whatnot. Track can be stressful because it’s an individual sport: I used to feel that my shortcomings were no one’s to blame but my own. And, while I take responsibility for my training and my progress and my performance, I’m learning to rely on my coach and my teammates for support. My teammates are everything to me. Shoutout Swat Throws.
AL: What are some goals you have for yourself and the team as you finish out the regular season and head into the postseason?
LM: For me, PRing is always the goal: fixing my technique to be the best it can be given the parameters of my body. Also, putting up as many points for my team as possible during conference championships. Team-wise, everyone’s always working hard to PR. I know our goal as a throws squad is to win the conference as a throws program, which is definitely possible.
AL: Do you have any pre-meet rituals? What goes through your mind as you step into the throwing circle?
LM: I don’t have any pre-meet rituals I follow religiously, but I typically spend some time before I compete looking through my notes to remind myself of the things I’m working on, but also to remind myself of all the progress I have made. I then write down three major technical things I’m hoping to execute on, and then some other things I hope to get out of the day. This can be anything from “laugh with my teammates” to “manage the adrenaline in my body” to “breathe.”
When I’m walking into the circle, my mind is usually running over the cues I just got from my coach. Most often, I am actually repeating them out loud under my breath. I’ll admit it — I talk to myself. And then I usually breathe and let my mind go blank. Most PRs feel effortless — you throw the best when you’re relaxed. So I can best prepare myself by relaxing, not overwhelming myself with information, and trusting that my body will know what to do.
AL: Looking ahead, what are you most excited about for the rest of the season?
LM: I’m so excited for Conference Championships. I’m excited to keep laughing with my teammates, building together, and celebrating all our wins as a squad. Swat Throws is so up. Personally, I’m also definitely excited to compete at Penn Relays again. It’s such a fun and surreal experience, and I really enjoy competing against D1 throwers.
AL: What is your favorite event to watch?
LM: Well I love discus, of course, but I also really enjoy watching the 400m, 800m, and the 1500m.
AL: Reflecting on your collegiate career, what advice would you give to an incoming student-athlete at Swarthmore?
LM: Give yourself some grace. Ask for that extension. Go out with your friends. Make sure you sleep enough. Find a creative outlet.
AL: What is your favorite class that you’ve taken at Swarthmore? What are you majoring in?
LM: I’m majoring in medical anthropology and economics. My favorite class so far here would have to be either Painting I with Sara Lawrence Lightfoot Professor of Art Randall Exon or Ballet 1 with Dance Senior Lecturer Chandra Moss-Thorne.
