Within 24 hours of arriving on the South Plains of Texas from New Zealand, Rowena Welford Morton wanted to turn around and go home. Thank goodness – for her sake and for Wayland Baptist University's – she didn't.

Welford blossomed into one of the most decorated track and field athletes – both on the track and off it – that Wayland has ever seen, producing a total of 17 NAIA All-American designations and two individual national championships while also helping the Pioneers to an NAIA team national championship. In fact, Morton still holds school records in both the 55- and 100-meter hurdles and owns two of the best long jump performances in Wayland's illustrious track and field history.

While things have turned out quite nicely for her here, Morton's introduction to her new life in Texas close to 20 years ago didn't start out so well.

"When I got here in January it was green and beautiful in New Zealand. Here, it was cold, there was no grass, there was lots of dirt and it was very flat," she recalled.

On top of that, her first meal in Texas included a rather heated introduction to Mexican food.

"I never had a jalapeno pepper before; I thought it was a bell pepper," Morton said. "I wanted to cry and go home. That was not funny at the time, but we laughed about it later."

On the plus side, she figured back then, things could only get better.

"There was nowhere to go but up from there," she said.

And it didn't take long for things to start moving in that direction.

Morton said she decided to come to Wayland after being recruited by then assistant track and field coach Scott Davis.

"I had gotten offers from Illinois State, Idaho State and Arizona State, (but) I don't like snow much and don't like it super hot. Plus, I was looking for a smaller school to where if something happened, like if I got hurt, I wouldn't be forgotten.

"Wayland fit perfectly for what I was looking for."

Morton wasn't the only New Zealander on the Wayland track rolls. Rachel Rowberry was a middle-distance runner, while Morton was a sprint and long jump specialist who transformed into a hurdling sensation as well.

"Wayland was a real (track & field) powerhouse in the late '80s," having won national indoor titles in 1986 and again in 1988. But there were a couple of down years after that.

"They were trying to build that back up again," Morton said.

She had an immediate impact on the squad, and by her sophomore season in 1994 the Pioneer women were back on the top of the podium at nationals.

"We just dominated everything – individually and as a team…" Morton recalled. "Everybody stepped up and everybody supported everybody else, male and female. It was an awesome time. I still remember it."

Morton won the long jump that season with a leap of 19 feet, 4 inches, an effort she eclipsed her junior season when she marked a career-best jump of 19-9½. That's also the year Morton added the hurdles to her repertoire and subsequently was named the Sooner Athletic Conference Outstanding Female Athlete after claiming another NAIA national title, this time in the outdoor long jump when she reached 20-1½. Also in 1996, the Wayland women finished second indoors nationally and third outdoors.

How the 5-foot-6, 125-pound Morton began running the hurdles was a bit by accident. Head coach Rick Beelby and Davis wanted Morton to begin competing in the pentathlon during the indoor season and in the heptathlon outdoors. While Morton was comfortable with most of the added events those competitions called for, she wasn't at ease running the 800 meters.

"I don't have the brain for that," she said of the half-mile run. "I preferred sprints."

Morton, meanwhile, flourished in the hurdles. In 1996, she set school records of 8.09 seconds in the 55-meter hurdles at the NAIA Indoor Championships, and 13.52 seconds in the outdoor 100-meter hurdles. Both records still stand.

"I was part of an awesome team that produced multiple all-Americans consistently for four years," Morton said.

While she totaled 15 NAIA All-American designations (in 14 individual events and one relay), Morton didn't just shine on the track. As she attained her bachelor's degree with a double major in biology and physical science, Morton twice was awarded GTE Academic All-American status. She routinely was named to the President's List and Dean's List, earned the L.C. Wayland Medical Award and Pioneer Scholar Award four times, and was named winner of the prestigious Roscoe Snyder Award in 1997 as Wayland's outstanding senior female athlete.

Morton credited the solid education she brought from New Zealand for much of her success at Wayland as well as the dedication of her Wayland coaches, especially Davis who was in charge of the hurdlers, jumpers and sprinters. Morton said Davis faithfully checked on her and the other track and field athletes, offering transportation to buy groceries or asking how their schoolwork was going.

"He was constantly making sure everything was where it needed to be," she said. "He was very encouraging and supportive."

After graduating in 1997, Morton remained at Wayland and served as assistant track coach while training for the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. She ended up being a "B" qualifier.

Now, Welford can hardly believe she's been voted into the WBU Athletics Hall of Honor.

"I was speechless there for a second," Morton said of her reaction upon hearing the news. "I've seen so many…phenomenal is not even an accurate word for the athletes and support staff and coaches who have gone through. I feel like I'm very far down the list. I'm very humbled."

In addition to her degree, Morton also came away from Wayland with something else – a husband. She married Billy Morton, who played baseball for the Pioneers, during Christmas 1995. Today, the couple lives in Billy's hometown of White Oak in East Texas with their two daughters, 12-year-old Makana and 8-year-old Piper, both budding softball players. Billy, after earning his doctorate degree, in part while studying in England, is employed as a high school chemistry teacher and baseball coach while Rowena, who has worked for Walgreens the past 10 years as a pharmacist intern, is due to graduate from pharmacy school next year.

"The ability to run track and get a really solid education (at Wayland) is what got me into pharmacy school," Morton said. "I was very blessed to do what I loved to do and get an education out of it.

"I made great friends there who I still keep in contact with."

It's a far cry from her dismal introduction to life in Texas and Wayland Baptist University, beginning with that first glimpse of flat land and her first taste of a jalapeno pepper.

"It grew on me quickly," she said.