By RJ Chavez
Oregon sprinter Kyree King’s main goal at the Pac-12 championships Sunday was to contribute to the team’s success. The individual part of the day was just a plus.
King helped the team by becoming the second man in Oregon’s history to sweep the sprints at a conference championship; Roscoe Cook won the 100-yard dash and the 220-yard dash in 1959. An Oregon man hadn’t won the 100 meters at a conference championship since 1932.
By earning points as part of the men’s victorious 4×100 meter relay, and 10 points each for the first-place finishes in the 100 and 200, King achieved what he wanted in Sunday’s finale and that was an 11th straight Pac-12 title for the Oregon men’s track and field team, a first for the transfer from Western Kentucky to be a part of. And King was also named the male athlete of the meet.
“Great debut by that guy, unbelievable,” said Oregon head coach Robert Johnson. “He’s been doing really well leading into this, and then to put it all together and run those races there… it’s definitely special.”
King won the 100 with a wind-aided time of 10.09 seconds, and an hour later ran a wind-aided time of 20.27 in the 200. Both were personal bests.
“My main goal was to come in and help my team win as much as I can,” said King. “The double was in the back of my head, but I knew I had to come out here and do what I had to do to help the team.”
Behind King every step of the way were teammates Damarcus Simpson and Marcus Chambers.
Simpson finished second in the 100 with a time of 10.27 seconds, which is a personal best. And behind King in the 200 was Chambers who finished with a time of 20.43 seconds, also a personal best.
“Seeing my teammates coming in second behind me and sweeping both runs was good,” said King. “I just felt we had to come out here and try to propel the men’s sprint team, and I was glad we were able to do that.”
King began his career at Mt. San Antonio College, and then he transferred to Western Kentucky. When that school reduced funding for its track team, King contacted Oregon, where he is running for his final season. With this being King’s final year of collegiate athletics, he’s not ready to celebrate just yet.
“Today wasn’t perfect so that’s good, my reaction time wasn’t all there,” he said. “I have more work to do. Time to get back to the drawing board.”
