Coupeville Sports

Tyler King: American Badass (Angelo Comeaux photo)

After battling illness for most of the season, Tyler King will now have to wait to see whether he gets one more cross country race.

The Coupeville High School grad, now a redshirt sophomore at the University of Washington, finished 97th (out of 187 runners) at the NCAA West Regionals in Sacramento Friday morning.

He and his Husky team placed 9th in the 27-team battle. Stanford and Oregon claimed the top two spots, earning guaranteed berths at the national championship meet Nov. 23.

Washington will now have to wait to see if it can claim one of the 13 at-large berths when the full 31-team bracket is announced. Last year the Huskies missed an invite by one slim spot.

Running 10,000 meters for the first time this season, King covered the course at Sacramento State’s Haggin Oaks Golf Complex in 31 minutes, 56 seconds. Edward Cheserek of Oregon won in 29:35.

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Tyler King fuels the engine. (Haley Jacobson photo)

Today Tyler King celebrates his birthday.

Tomorrow, he and his teammates on the University of Washington mens’ cross country squad prepare to scorch some booty in California at the NCAA West Regionals.

The Huskies, ranked 29th in the nation, are aiming for a berth at the NCAA National Championships Nov. 23, but will have to traverse the 10,000 meter course at Sacramento State’s Haggin Oaks Golf Complex quickly to capture one.

The top two teams automatically qualify, with nine regions accounting for the first 18 teams for nationals. After that, there are 13 wild card berths, which can be tricky to nab.

Last year, the Dawgs were the 32nd team, missing out by one slim slot.

King, a redshirt sophomore who still holds numerous Coupeville High School records, is finally fully healthy after battling illness for much of the season. This will be his second go-round at regionals.

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Tyler King contemplates his future. “I shall run, son. I shall run fast.”

Tyler King went up 5,000 feet to run 8,000 meters Saturday.

Competing in the rarefied air in Colorado, the University of Washington sophomore placed 31st at the Pac-12 Cross Country Championships to help spark the Huskies to their best team finish in four years.

Competing against three of the top 13 teams in the nation — #1 Colorado, #4 Oregon and #13 Stanford — Washington finished fifth, being edged out at the very end by Arizona State. It was the best results for the Husky men since 2009.

King, a state champion during his time in the red and black of Coupeville High School, was the third-fastest Husky on the afternoon, clocking in at 26 minutes, two seconds.

He and his teammates next travel to Sacramento, where they will run in the NCAA West Regionals Friday, Nov. 15 in a bid to qualify for the national championships.

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