Carter Morton hasn’t competed in a decathlon in a year, but he’s entered in the June 1-2 John Green/Texas Greatest Athlete Invitational in the Dallas Metroplex. The 2020 Greene County High School graduate and U. of Northern Iowa student had ankle surgery in November 2023 and red-shirted (did not compete) in either the indoor or outdoor seasons for the Panthers. He won the 2023 Drake Relays decathlon and was the 2023 MVC Outstanding Performer for men both indoors and outdoors.

The event will be hosted at Greenhill school in Addison, TX, but is actually hosted by St. Mark’s School of Texas, but the site was moved due to construction at St. Mark’s. This event is for high school, collegiate, and open competitors.

Among Morton’s goals is to score high enough to qualify for the Olympic Trials starting June 21 at the U. of Oregon’s Hayward Field. He’s the son of Chad and Deb Morton of Jefferson and since this is an “unattached meet”, athletes pay their own registration fees and have to transport themselves. If you see a vehicle leaving Jefferson one early morning this week with pole vaulting poles attached to the roof, you can be pretty sure that’s the Morton’s on their way to Texas.