Skip to main content
Oregon
Join Now

Oregon's Micah Williams cruises to victory in prelim heat at NCAA championships

Jarrid Denneyby: Jarrid Denney06/09/22jarrid_denney

The entire track and field world will be watching this week to see just how fast Micah Williams can run.

If Wednesday was any indicator, it could be a massive week for Oregon’s star sophomore.

Williams dominated the preliminary round of the 100-meter dash Thursday at the NCAA national championship meet at Hayward Field, cruising to victory in his heat with a time of 10.03 seconds. Williams looked like he hardly got out of first gear, but recorded the fastest time of the day by a wide margin.

Williams has exploded onto the scene as one of the top sprinters in the world this season. He ran a personal-best time of 9.86 seconds earlier this spring which is the second-fastest ever by a collegian and the second-fastest in the world this year.

The 100-meter collegiate record, which is also the NCAA championship record, is held by former Tennessee star Christian Coleman, who ran a 9.82 at the 2017 national championship meet. The Hayward Field record is held by Tyson Gay, who ran a 9.77 on June 28, 2008.

A Portland, Ore., native who attended Benson High, Williams broke the school record in the 60-meter dash last indoor season and won the national title in that event.

He swept the Pac-12 titles in the 100 and 200 two weeks ago in Eugene but has opted to not compete in the 200 this week.

The second-fastest time of the day was recorded by Florida State junior JoVaughn Martin, who finished in 10.10 seconds.

The 100-meter final will take place at 6:52 p.m. Friday at Hayward Field.

The following athletes qualified for the final:

  • Micah Williams (Oregon) 10.03
  • JoVaughn Martin (Florida State) 10.10
  • Joseph Fahnbulleh (Florida) 10.11
  • Dedrick Vanover (Florida) 10.15
  • Shaun Maswanganyi (Houston) 10.15
  • Favour Ashe (Tennesee) 10.15
  • Da’Marcus Fleming (LSU) 10.16
  • Matthew Boling (Georgia) 10.18

You may also like