Greene County High School senior Carter Morton is among the athletes who has had their athletic careers end early due to COVID-19. In the last 11 months, the all-around athlete was All-State in football, All-Conference in basketball, a multiple State place winner in track & field, and a starter in baseball for the Rams. He told Raccoon Valley Radio if there is a high school baseball season, he doesn’t plan on playing, so with track & field, along with all other Spring sports cancelled in Iowa, Morton’s next team will be the University of Northern Iowa Panthers, for whom he signed a Letter of Intent months ago for track & field.

Despite the loss of his senior season, the standout high jumper, sprinter, high and low hurdler, hasn’t lost his sense of humor. He was asked what his reaction was to hearing there would be no track season. “The first thought I had was ‘I don’t have to run the 400 (meter) hurdles!’ Then, I thought about the high jump and if I were to go back to my junior year and State track, it’s not like I would’ve tried harder because I give my best all the time, but if I’d known I wouldn’t have my senior season, I probably would have embraced that moment a lot more than what I did.”

Morton was third in the Class 2A high jump, sixth in the 100 meter high hurdles, and ninth in the 400 meter low hurdles. He owns the Greene County high jump school record at 6′ 8″, which ties 2004 Jefferson-Scranton graduate Keith Pedersen for the highest anyone from a Jefferson-based program has jumped. Morton cleared that height at Carroll Athletic Field on April 8, 2019.