Special to the Jefferson Herald
UNI’s Carter Morton - a 2020 Greene County graduate - punctuated an impressive MVC indoor track and field championships Feb. 28 as the Panther junior finished with three gold medal performances to earn most valuable athlete of the meet honors at Chicago’s Gately Park.
The Panther men finished in third place overall with 123 points taking home first place in six events. Indiana State captured the team crown with 153 points while Illinois State finished runner-up with 149 points.
After winning the men’s long jump on Sunday thanks to a career-best shattering 24 feet, 1.75 inches (three inches farther than his previous long), 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. The Jefferson native followed the win up by clinching the Heptathlon title with 5,278 total points, earning UNI’s first win in the MVC Championships since Daniel Gooris in 2012. Teammates Drew Bartels (4,729 points) and Brody Lovell (4,726) finished in third and fourth place respectively in the Heptathlon.
UNI were awaiting the announcement of the 2023 NCAA Indoor Championship qualifiers on Tuesday. Final championship start lists will be released by the NCAA on March 8, with the national championships running March 10-11 at the Albuquerque Convention Center in New Mexico.