When Devon Morris burst upon the Wayland athletic scene in 1984, few suspected that the soft-spoken former Jamaican sugar factory machinist would quickly become the dominant figure in NAIA track and field, propelling Wayland not only into the NAIA limelight, but also into the international arena.
     A native of Westmoreland, Jamaica, Morris joined a Wayland track and field program which had boasted many individual honors, but had never claimed an NAIA national title. He quickly helped Coach John Creer’s team cleat that hurdle, placing second in the 440and first in both the 600 and as a member of the mile relay team to boost the Pioneers to the 1985 NAIA indoor national championship. National meet observers quickly learned to associate both Wayland and Morris with national titles, as the Pioneers won five straight indoor crowns, during his four years of competition, WBU also finished second three times and third once at the NAIA outdoor championships.
     Individually, Morris is without peer in NAIA track annals. He was named the Outstanding Male Performer at both 1986 and NAIA National Indoor Championships and the 1988 NAIA Outdoor National Championships. At the time of his induction into the Wayland Athletic Hall of Honor in 1996, Morris was Wayland’s most-honored athlete with 18 individual national titles and 24 All-America recognitions.
Morris Success extended will past the NAIA, however. He was member of the Wayland team which won all seven relay events at the Drake Relays, the first school to do so since 1948. In international competition, Morris won the world indoor 400-meter championship in Seville, Spain, in 1991; the silver medal as a member of the Jamaica 4x400 team at the Goodwill Games in 1990; and the silver medal for Jamaica in the 4x400 relay at the Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea in 1988. He also participated in the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
      Morris graduated from Wayland in 1990 with a Bachelor of Science degree in marketing. He completed the master of business administration degree at Lindenwood College (Mo.) in 1995.