Highland Park Swimmer Emily Morrow Named School’s Prom Queen in Joyful Ceremony

I’m not crying, you’re crying.

This week, the swimming community turned a corner from the sadness of missing our teams, coaches, and teammates, to happiness, as the country finds ways to unite and make special moments for senior swimmers around the country amid a pandemic.

Yesterday, we highlighted Nitro Swimming in Austin, which held a special senior day celebration for its 23 seniors. Today, we’ll move a few hours north to suburban Dallas, Texas, where Highland Park High School swimmer Emily Morrow was crowned prom queen.

According to Emily’s mom, when she heard the news that prom was cancelled, Emily was briefly sad, but then lit up with the idea to have prom at her house.

Her mom’s plan was to put together a special prom event where the family could dance and watch a concert together and celebrate the night.

Some of Emily’s classmates, however, got together to make the celebration even more special. The school’s prom committee stopped by the Morrow house to crown her as the prom queen, and organized a car parade to come by and congratulate Emily on her win.

“Because she walks around the school, she’s so happy, everyone knows her, she always has positive energy, and she’s just the best,” her classmate Keller Matise said of why Emily was chosen.

“The community at Highland Park has been very unique,” said a woman interviewed by CBS. “They love people with special needs, they love them so well, who they are, not changing them.”

Emily has been a member of the school’s swim team for 3 years. The Highland Park girls finished 6th at the 2020 Texas 6A State Championship meet in February. A multi-sport athlete, Morrow also plays soccer and basketball.

Watch a video of the event from the local CBS affiliate below.

Hannah Ferrin, a former swimmer at Highland Park and SMU who is now the team’s head coach, said that Emily is her most talented athlete in a Facebook post: