Waterford Olympian, Running Record-Setter Named 2023 Gold Key Honoree

WATERFORD, CT — A former holder of three world and American distance running records and a 1976 Olympian from Waterford has been selected to receive one of the state's oldest and most prestigious sports honors.

Jan Merrill-Morin, a graduate of both Waterford High School and Connecticut College, will receive the Gold Key Award from the Connecticut Sports Media Alliance (CSMA) at the 81st annual Gold Key Dinner on Sunday, Oct. 22 at the Aqua Turf Club in Southington.

Merrill-Morin won the gold medal in the 1,500 meter run at the 1975 Pan American Games in Mexico City, then was a finalist in the same event at the 1976 Summer Olympic Games in Montreal. In 1979, she won the 3,000 meter race at the Pan American Games in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

She is the former world record holder in the indoor 3,000 meters and two-mile events, as well as the outdoor 5,000, and once held American records in the 1,500, 3,000 and 5,000. She was named the Connecticut Sports Writers’ Alliance Athlete of the Year in 1977, and has been inducted into the halls of fame at Waterford High School and Connecticut College.

Merrill-Morin coached track collegiately at Rutgers University, the Coast Guard Academy, Connecticut College and Mitchell College, and is currently head coach at Old Saybrook High School.

Other Gold Key honorees are longtime Darien High School volleyball coach Laurie LaRusso, Norwich Free Academy coach/athletic director Gary Makowicki, North Branford High School field hockey coach Babby Nuhn and retired Major League Baseball umpire Terry Tata.

With two exceptions, the Gold Key Dinner has been an annual event since its inception in 1940. Among the Connecticut sports legends recognized in past years are Gordie Howe, Willie Pep, Floyd Little, Geno Auriemma, Calvin Murphy, Kristine Lilly, Julius Boros, Connie Mack, Gene Sarazen, Ron Francis, Dwight Freeney, Terry Lowe, Bill Rodgers, Brian Leetch, Rebecca Lobo, Bobby Valentine and Joan Joyce.

Award winners in other categories will be announced later this spring. They include the President's Award, the Doc McInerney High School Coaches of the Year, the Bill Lee Male Athlete of the Year, the Hank O'Donnell Female Athlete of the Year, the Bo Kolinsky Special Recognition Award, the Bob Casey Courage Award, the Hal Levy High School Achievement Award and the John Wentworth Good Sport Awards.

Tickets for the Gold Key Dinner are $75, and are available by contacting CSMA president Tim Jensen of Patch Media Corp. at 860-394-5091 or tim.jensen@patch.com. Proceeds support the Bo Kolinsky Memorial Sports Media Scholarship, a $3,000 annual award named in memory of the noted high school sports editor of the Hartford Courant and past CSMA president, who passed away in 2003 at age 49.