On a day “King Ches” was notably absent from the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, a new bit of royalty made Hayward Field his court on Wednesday afternoon in Eugene. Senior transfer Kyree King advanced to three finals and had a part in three school records in the process, as sprinters took the lead for Oregon on the first day of the national meet, which 17-time champion Edward Cheserek is missing due to a back injury. King set school records in the 100 meters (10.00) and 200 meters (20.27), and also helped the UO 4×100 relay team advance in a school-record 38.76. Marcus Chambers anchored the relay and also made Friday’s final in the 400, and Blake Haney advanced to the 1,500 final. The Ducks also put their first points on the board Wednesday, with pole vaulter Cole Walsh clearing 17-10.5 to finish tied for fifth, good for 3.5 points in the team race. “That was definitely the goal,” Walsh said. “We lost Ed, so we’re trying to scrounge for as many points as we can anywhere else.” Wednesday’s opening session of the meet featured primarily men’s preliminaries, along with the start of the decathlon and a handful of men’s finals including the 10,000 and five field events. Freshman Tanner Anderson took 13th in the 10k in 29:21.67, while throwers Cody Danielson (javelin) and Cullen Prena (hammer throw) didn’t reach their finals. The Oregon women’s quest for track and field’s calendar year “Triple Crown” begins Thursday. But in the opening session Wednesday, King occupied the throne for the Ducks. He began his day with a leg on the 4×100, in which Chambers held off the hard-charging anchor from Texas A&M to give Oregon a first-place finish in its heat. King capped his day by getting off to a huge start in the 200 and finishing second in his heat. In between, he took second in his 100 heat, running a school-record 10.00 while one lane over Tennessee’s Christian Coleman was running a collegiate-record 9.82.
