Merrell was a legendary high school runner at New Jersey’s Lawrenceville School in the early 1970s. During his senior year at Lawrenceville, he authored an indoor season for the ages, running 1:54.0 for 880 yards, a 4:11.0 mile, and 9:07 for two miles. His 4:11.0 mile was the anchor leg for Lawrenceville’s Distance Medley Relay Team that set a National High School Record. His half-mile and two-mile times ranked in the top 5 nationally for the 1973 indoor season. All of these impressive performances were achieved on a rickety, ten-lap to the mile wooden track.
Merrell ran for Princeton University as an undergrad, and for Oxford University as a grad student in English Literature. After his academic career, Merrell went on to be a writer and reporter for Sports Illustrated from 1986 to 1999, covering a variety of sports, including Track and Field. Throughout his life he cherished his family, friends, and teammates, and kept up his passion for running through training, competing, and coaching. Born in Trenton, NJ in 1955, Merrell passed away from cancer in 2015. His memory lives on through the Merrell Noden Track Club.