Scientifically speaking, they are two of a kind. Pierce County High seniors Morgan and Lauren Lee, the daughters of Cameron and Lisa Lee, have each enjoyed prolific high school careers.
However, upon meeting them, it doesn’t take long to figure out that the identical twins are as different as night and day. “I always liked to go shopping with mama and still do,” said Morgan, who is six minutes older. “And I’m Daddy’s girl because he and I like to hunt, fish, and ride around,” Lauren added.
“Lauren and Morgan will go down as two of the greatest to come through the Pierce County soccer program,” said Alvin Thrift, PCHS head soccer coach. “Lauren is a work horse and gets up and down the field both on offense and defense. She has been a two-year captain and is greatly respected by the other 22 girls on the team. Morgan brings something to the team that is hard to duplicate: she quietly works harder than the rest and makes everyone around her not only a better player, but a better person. No matter what we are doing, Morgan makes the rest of the team feel better and work harder.”
A three-year soccer veteran, Morgan is better known as the two-time captain of the PCHS competition cheerleaders. She will leave PCHS as the program’s most decorated cheerleader with three state titles, three region titles, and three middle school conference titles. Meanwhile, Lauren’s dossier includes four years of soccer, three years of cross country, two years of basketball, and a year of softball.
“Morgan is a silent leader,” said PCHS cheer coach Amy Nimmer. “Even though she is not always outspoken, the girls listen to what she has to say when it is time. She does not complain or argue when I ask for something to be done. After all, she has three state rings to prove it. Morgan has been an asset to this team in many ways, and I can only hope that I will continue to see more athletes like Morgan enter the cheerleading program at Pierce County High School.”
The soccer siblings are also standouts in the classroom, where both are positioned to graduate comfortably in the upper half of a senior class numbering nearly 230. Each carries a GPA of 3.25 or greater and maintains an A/B average. Each is part of the Certified Nursing Assistant program at PCHS and holds membership with the Health Occupations Students of America (HOSA). They even have identical class schedules, as they have throughout school.
“I had to do that so I would know what was going on with Lauren, because she wouldn’t tell me,” their mother said. “All she ever cared about was sports. They both eat the same things, they watch the same things. They stay in the same bedroom even though they have separate rooms. They are both extremely big hearted. They are not competitive with each other and never have been, and that’s a good thing.”
Lauren is poised to play collegiate soccer and has drawn interest from South Georgia State College and ABAC, as well as Andrew College in Cuthbert. Meanwhile, Morgan plans to focus on academics at the next level, despite her championship-laden resume. Lauren said with a laugh, “At home, Mama will joke about stuff like taking out the trash saying, ‘Morgan doesn’t have to do that; she’s a three-time state champ.’”
Humor aside, everyone acknowledges the blood, sweat, and tears that went into each of those state championships. Morgan says she’s equally proud of all three titles, but vividly recalls the moments leading up to the most recent crown won last fall in Columbus. “After our first big stunt, everyone knew we were pretty good. We then knew that we just had to stick the pyramid. We got back to the area to get water, and Miss Amy was crying because we did so well. Then we prayed. It was different this year because last year she knew our routine wasn’t our best one and that we could have been beaten, but this year she knew after we did it that we couldn’t be beaten.”
Morgan recently shocked everyone by winning Player of the Week honors for the soccer Bears, an honor that came on the heels of her first-ever goal. On the pitch, though, it’s usually Lauren who finds the back of the net. Last season she garnered All-Region honors and was named the team’s Best Offensive Player, scoring a team-high 21 goals along with 22 assists. She plays forward or right midfielder; Morgan usually plays forward and actually set up her sister for a score against one of the Savannah teams last year. “It was a cross pass near the 18-yard box,” Lauren said. “I was just really trying to get rid of the ball as fast as I could,” Morgan added.
Lauren also was the top cross country runner in Region 1-AAA this season while helping lead PCHS to the region title. “That’s been the best part of my senior year so far,” she said. Both girls were named to the senior superlatives: Lauren was named Wittiest while Morgan was voted Best Looking. Morgan was also the 2016 PCHS Homecoming Queen and was named Miss Freshman, Miss Sophomore, and Miss Junior in previous years.
Morgan, who lists social studies as her favorite subject, looks to get her college degree in business. “I am probably going to work with my dad. He sprays concrete in storm drains,” she said. Lauren, a math aficionado, casts an eye on a nursing career. “You can make good money,” she added.
The girls actually have an older sister – Logan, 24 – who bears a striking resemblance to them. Still, since the earliest days, Lauren and Morgan have basically experienced the highs and lows of twin-hood together. Adults for years have confused the two. “They always call us by the wrong name. They’ll go through all the names before they get it right,” Morgan said. “I always get in trouble,” Lauren added. “I can hit Morgan and she hits me back but I am the one that gets the blame.”
Teachers have done a surprisingly decent job of telling the twins apart. Most have had some sort of scouting report, thanks the girl’s grandmother, Susie Sapp. She has been the girls’ number one fan and makes it a point to attend every game. “Nana and Mama get lost going everywhere,” Lauren said. “One time they missed a whole game.” Morgan added, “They’ll have the address or a GPS and still get lost.”
Mrs. Sapp, an administrative assistant at PCHS, is retiring at the end of the school year. For the past four years, she has helped shuttle the girls to and from school, warmed up their lunch in the faculty lounge, and performed an array of tasks for the girls. Soon they’ll all be moving on to exciting new challenges.
“I have been blessed to have been able to be at the high school with Morgan and Lauren for the past four years,” Mrs. Sapp said. “The countless nights coming home from soccer games, the many long weekends of cheer competitions, the honors and achievements they’ve received, have been priceless. As they near graduation, they know that if there are things they want to achieve, knowledge they want to gain, and friends they want to make, it is now entirely up to them.”
Southeast/Academic Athlete/March 2016
Morgan Lee & Lauren Lee
Pierce County High School
Blackshear, Georgia
Story by John DuPont
Photos by Jennifer Carter Johnson
Sister Act
