Sprinter Mason Lawyer becomes first Cougar to follow coach to Arizona...
Sprinter Mason Lawyer (Paul Merca photo) will be a cat of a different stripe this fall.
The Washington State Cougar, who qualified both indoors and outdoors for the NCAA championships, and ran the second leg on their 4 x 100 meter relay that set a school record 39.09 that also went to nationals, will head to Tucson to become an Arizona Wildcat.
At the NCAA West Regional championships on May 30th, the Boise native ran perhaps one of the greatest one day performances in Washington State track and field history.
Lawyer took the baton from Bryson Stubblefield to put the Cougars in contention, while while Parker Duskin and Keenan Kuntz hung on for the fourth place finish and the first time qualifying spot to the national championships in Eugene, stopping the clock at 39.09, under the previous school record of 39.24 set in 1991 by George Ogbeidi, Tony Li, Benari Burroughs, and Augustine Olobia.
In the 100 meters, he broke 10 seconds in a barely wind aided (+2.1) 9.95, which would have blown away the existing school record of 10.17 set by Olympians Anson Henry in 2002 and Louie Hinchliffe two years ago.
An hour later, Lawyer broke the school record of 20.52 set by Anson Henry in 2002, running 20.34 to get yet another ticket to Eugene, finishing 4th in heat 3 and a time qualifier.
Besides qualifying for the NCAA indoor championships in both the 60 and 200 meters, Lawyer won the MPSF 60 meter title and ran a leg on the Cougars' 4 x 400 relay, en route to WSU winning the conference championship.
Lawyer will reunite with his Cougar sprint coach Gabriel Mvumvure, who was one of three coaches let go after the school's decision to cut the sprints, hurdles and all field events from the program and move to a distance focused approach.
UPDATE (6:40 pm): Shortly after this was posted, Arizona announced that Kent native Brooke Lyons has signed, joining Lawyer in Tucson.
This past season, Lyons, who ran at Tahoma HS before attending Washington State, ran personal bests this season of 11.44 in the 100, 23.32 (+2.8) in the 200, and 54.98 in the 400.
She was third in the 60, and second in the 200 at the MPSF championships in Spokane, helping the Cougars finish second in the team race.
Several other athletes from Washington State's sprint and hurdle crew are expected to go to Arizona to continue being coached by Mvumvure.
NOTE: The University of Arizona contributed to this report.
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