Carter Morton Photo by Sue Rieder

The first five decathlon events were held Thursday at the 2025 Toyota USA Track & Field Outdoor Championships in Eugene, OR, with the last five events being contested today. Carter Morton of Jefferson, a 2020 Greene County High School graduate, and U. of Northern Iowa athlete, sits in eighth place among 16 competitors after the first day of competition.

Thursday started with the 100 meter dash and Morton was clocked in 11.026 seconds, good for 14th place and 854 points. Morton was sixth in the long jump with a best leap of 23′ 8-3/4″ and 869 points. The shot put historically is one of the lower scoring events for the 5′ 11″ 162 lbs. Morton, who was sixteenth at 39′ 9-1/4″ and 614 points. The high jump has been a strength area throughout his career and on Thursday he was third in the event when he cleared the bar at 6′ 11″, tying his personal best and garnering 906 points. The 400 meter dash wrapped up the first day and Morton ran the one lap race in 50.24 to finish eleventh and collect 804 points. He goes into the final five events today with 4,047 points.

The 110 meter high hurdles, discus throw, pole vault, javelin throw, and 1,500 meter run are the final five events today.

Morton is one of the few Jeffersonians to ever compete at the USATF Outdoor Championships, which features the best in track & field the United States has to offer. He is the son of Chad and Deb Morton of Jefferson.