Birthday: 06/18/56 Mile PR: 4:28.3 - 1979
Metric Mile (1500m) PR: 4:02.61 - 1976
High School: Waterford HS '74
Hometown: Waterford, CT
College: Connecticut College '79
Current Residence: Piscataway, NJ
Jan Merrill was a finalist in the 1500 meters at the 1976 Olympics and a gold medalist at the 1975 (1500 meters) and 1979 (3000 meters) Pan Am Games. Merrill was the USA 1500 meter champion in 1978 and 1981 and the indoor Mile national champion in 1976 and 1981. Overall, she won 11 national titles (outdoor - 6, indoor - 3 and cross country - 2).
In 1976, Merrill set a U.S. record in the 1500 meters (metric Mile) with a time of 4:02.61, and in 1977 on May 14 at the United States Military Academy, West Point, she set the U.S. Mile record, clocking 4:30.98.
In 1981, she won the silver medal at the World Cross Country Championships in Madrid, and during her career, Merrill set the 5000m world record three times with a PR of 15:30.6 from 1980.
Merrill-Morin has coached at both the NCAA Division I and III levels—including stops at Rutgers University, Coast Guard Academy, Connecticut College and Mitchell College as well as 18 years as the varsity coach at Waterford High School.
Photo credit: Jeff Johnson
Date of Statehood: January 9, 1788
Capital: Hartford
Motto: Qui transtulit sustinet (He who transplanted sustains)
The most profilic Nutmegger Miler in state history Jan Merrill set a U.S. Mile record in 1977, was a USA indoor Mile champion and a 1976 Olympian at 1500 meters. On the men's...
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Olympian Jan Merrill, America's outstanding middle-distance runner, is schooled by her very own Professor Higgins
By Anita Verschoth, Sports Illustrated
One of Jan Merrill's prized possessions is a cartoon she received from a friend last fall. It shows a woman runner, whose severe features...
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