~courtesy of The Scranton Journal
University of Northern Iowa third year track and field athlete Carter Morton capped an impressive Missouri Valley Conference Indoor Championship meet on Feb. 27 as the Panther finished with three gold medal performances and earned most valuable athlete of the meet honors at Chicago’s Gately Park.
On Day One of the competition, Morton led the way after the first four events of the Heptathlon and won the open long jump with a jump of 24 feet 1.75 inches. The Jefferson native is the first Panther to win the event since Cody Eichmeier won three consecutive long jump titles from 2005 through 2007. UNI swept the event with Parker Kiewiet and Jack Sumners finishing second and third respectively.
On Day Two, Morton kicked off his whirlwind second day of competition with a first place finish in the triple jump (48 feet, 2.75 inches), becoming UNI’s first MVC indoor champion in the event since 2004. This was just the second time Morton ever competed in the event. Morton followed the win up by clinching the Heptathlon title with 5,278 total points, earning UNI’s first win in the MVC.
After winning the heptathlon, Morton competed in the open high jump where he finished in fifth place earning four points for the team.
Morton scored 34 of UNI’s 123 points with the team finishing third in the meet on the men’s side.
Morton is the son of Chad and Deb Morton of Jefferson and a 2020 graduate of Greene County High School.
