Team USA Triathlete Hails From Morris County, Is Delbarton Grad

MORRISTOWN, NJ — After earning a silver medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics, a former Delbarton School distance runner is again representing Team USA on the world's biggest stage.

By our count, triathlete Morgan Pearson is the fifth athlete with Morris County ties to make it to the 2024 Games in Paris (which begin on Friday, July 26).

The 30-year-old was raised in New Vernon and graduated from the Delbarton School in 2011, where he was a state champion in the 3,200-meter run his senior year.

He qualified for the Olympics last August, and also won this year's World Triathlon Championship Series Yokohama race in Japan — becoming the first U.S. man to win a world title in this series since 2009.

For both men and women, the triathlon consists of a 1,500-meter swim, a 40-kilometer bike ride, and a 10-kilometer run — at the World Triathlon Series, Pearson completed that same distance in 1 hour, 42 minutes, and 5 seconds.

"Everyone wants to win," he said after that competition. "You can be in the shape of your life and still have things go wrong or someone be fitter. You just have to show up and give it your best and today my best was good enough."

Pearson will be competing on the individual level this year, after being part of a team triathlon event at the last Games.

He's also the second Delbarton alumnus at this year's Games, as swimmer Jack Alexy will make his Olympic debut in the 100-meter freestyle and 4x100 men's relay. Pearson and Alexy graduated 10 years apart from one another at the Catholic high school in Morristown.

Pearson ran for the cross country and indoor track teams at the University of Colorado, where he was a seven-time NCAA All-American runner. He now lives and trains in Boulder.

At the 2020 Olympics, Pearson was the anchor for the United States mixed relay team (made up of four people), which won silver.

Morristown native Nic Fink (swimming), Mount Olive High School alumna Keturah Orji (track and field), and Chatham High School grad John Tolkin (soccer) are also Paris-bound.