Coupeville Sports

“Tie your laces tight, old man, because I’m about to blow you out of your shoes.”

“I will spank you like the little boy you are, son!”

“Boys, boys, boys…”

There can only be one King in the King Family!

It’s all been building up to this moment, as former Coupeville High School running gods Kyle and Tyler King prepare to face off for the first, last and only time as college cross country runners.

Well, unless they meet at the NCAA championships, but I’m trying to hype this up, so let’s just ignore that fact…

Sure, there may be close to 500 runners at today’s 4th annual Wisconsin Adidas Invitational in Madison, with 46 mens’ teams and 49 womens’ squads competing in the biggest cross country race of the regular season, but only one thing truly matters — which King wins the battle of brothers.

Run at the Thomas Zimmer Championship Cross Country Course, the 8K battle royal will feature just about every ranked team in the land, with Kyle King’s 4th ranked University of Oklahoma squad looking to take out defending NCAA champ Wisconsin. The redshirt senior will be joined by his redshirt freshman lil’ brother, who wears the purple and gold of the University of Washington.

In one corner, Kyle King! In the other, Tyler King! Come out running and may the best man win and forever claim the title of King of the King family … and second best athlete in the family!!

Yeah, you heard me right. Older sister Brianne King is still the the best athlete in the family, hands down. Accept it and move on, boys. You have a race to run.

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A picture so intense you can never use it too many times.

Slowed down by a nasty cold that had prevented him from training the past two days, Tyler King was not at his best Saturday.

Running at the Bill Dellinger Cross Country Invitational in Springfield, Oregon, the University of Washington red-shirt freshman finished 72nd out of 101 runners in a time of 25 minutes, 39 seconds.

The former Wolf star had been questionable before the start of the race due to his health issues, and he had little gas with which to chase the race leaders. Senior Trevor Dunbar of Oregon won the race in 23:38.

King’s next race won’t be until Friday, Oct. 12, when he and his Husky teammates will travel to Madison, Wisconsin for the Adidas Invitational. Also expected to show at that meet, the 4th ranked team in the nation — the University of Oklahoma — which features Tyler’s older brother, red-shirt senior Kyle King.

It will be the first time the Kings have faced off at the college level. Time for … MORTAL KOMBAT!!!!!

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From eastern Washington snow to Oklahoma heat to the hills of Virginia, nothing slows down Kyle King.

It’s official. Kyle King is a certified, Grade-A stud.

After three very impressive seasons running cross country and track at Eastern Washington University, King reached a whole new level Saturday. Running his first race for the University of Oklahoma, the fourth-ranked cross country squad in the entire nation, the former Wolf tasted the elite level of his sport.

A five-time state track champ during his days at Coupeville High School, the fifth-year senior debuted as a Sooner at the Virginia/Panorama Farms Invitational in Earlysville, Virginia. Using a strategy of having one runner make a play for the top spot, while the remainder of the Sooner squad ran as a tight pack, Oklahoma dominated, thrashing nine other teams, including two other ranked squads in No. 21 Michigan and No. 22 Arkansas.

King finished 14th out of 87 runners, covering an 8K course in 24 minutes, 32.6 seconds. He and his pack picked up the pace at every mark, with King vaulting from 26th at the two-mile mark to 18th at the 5K mark to his final spot, mashed into a group running as one.

Kemoy Campbell of Arkansas took the race in 24:04.7, narrowly edging out Oklahoma’s Bill Kogel.

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“Get outta my way, old man!!”

There’s a pecking order in cross country, pretty much the same as any other sport.

Seniors dominate. Younger players bide their time and wait for their moments in the sun. Business as usual.

Unless your name is Tyler King and you’re ready to dominate right now, no questions asked.

The Coupeville High School grad, currently a red-shirt freshman at the University of Washington, came dangerously close to winning his first-ever XC race in a Husky singlet Saturday. Surging late in the race, he gave the older set a run for their money at the 21st annual Sundodger Invitational in Seattle, pushing eventual winner Joey Bywater into picking up his feet and movin’ em like he DID care.

Bywater, a fifth-year senior who has been an indoor track All-American, won the race in 23 minutes, 48 seconds, while King covered the 8,000 meter course in 24:14.91, claiming seventh place overall. He was third among his Husky teammates.

Powered by King, Bywater and company, the UW claimed the mens’ title, putting together the best winning score in event history. It was the sixth straight year the Huskies had swept both the mens’ and womens’ race.

As King heads deeper into his first full season as a Husky harrier, one date in particular looms ahead. On October 13 he and his teammates are scheduled to compete in the Adidas Invitational in Madison, Wisconsin, an event that will also welcome the University of Oklahoma, a team that features his big brother, fifth-year senior Kyle King, a five-time track state champ back in their days at CHS.

If past events are any indication, don’t expect Tyler to take it easy on the old man.

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