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