Avon High’s school record in mile falls twice within an hour

In the span of an hour, Avon’s Jack Martin, left, and Carver Morgan each broke the school record in the mile. Morgan broke a 49-year record set in 1972 while Jack broke Carver’s 45-minute record.

DANBURY, June 13, 2021 – In an ordinary season, track and field runners would have one big meet left before the school year comes to a close – the New England championships.

Of course, this hasn’t been a normal school year thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. The New England track and field championships were cancelled in March due to the uncertainty at that time of states to even hold championship meets and complete their seasons.

Into the void, other meets have surfaced. Avon’s Jack Martin and Carver Morgan both ran in Sunday’s Danbury Dream Invitational with each running breaking the school record for the one mile.

Carver raced in his heat of the one mile race and finished in 4:23.81, erasing the 49-year-old school record of 4:25.6 set by Buddy Harris in 1972 at a meet in Suffield. Twice, Harris won a two-mile state championship running for the Falcons in 1971 and 1972. Morgan’s mark converts to 4:22.33 for 1,600 meters.

While Harris held the record for 49 years, Morgan held it for about 45 minutes.

Martin grabbed the school record by finishing third in his heat with a time of 4:09.12. He finished behind Wolcott High’s Nicholas Bendtsen (4:07.71) and Manchester High’s Aidan Puffer (4:08.91) and finished just ahead of Ridgefield’s Charles King (4:09.17) and Westhill’s Colin McLaughlin (4:10.66).

Martin’s performance earned him an invitation to the 30th annual Nike national championships called The Outdoor Nationals in the first weekend in July at the University of Oregon’s historic Hayward Field. His time would convert to 4:07.73 for 1,600 meters, which is a bit shorter than a mile.

In 1980, Connecticut high schools converted to racing in meters and stopped competing in the mile in dual meets and state championship meets.

Morgan and Carver’s times helped Avon’s 4x-mile relay team earn an invitation to the Nike nationals along with teammates Lucas Hester and Nick Alphonso.

Martin and the relay team are both on waitlists to compete in the meet.