Johnson, Williams Collect Pac-12 Awards
EUGENE, Ore. – On the heels of leading the Ducks to a sweep of the team titles last weekend at the Pac-12 Championships, Robert Johnson has been named the league's Men's and Women's Coach of the Year as announced Thursday by the conference office. Additionally, sophomore Micah Williams adds Pac-12 Track Athlete of the Year to his season résumé.
For the 10th time in program history, the Men and Women of Oregon swept the conference team titles. The results extended the men's winning streak to 15-consecutive years while the women secured their first Pac-12 title since 2017.
Johnson is now an 11-time Pac-12 Coach of the Year and sweeps the men's and women's honors for the fourth time (2013-14, '17, '22) in his career. Thursday's release marks his sixth honor with the men and fifth with the women.
The Oregon men finished the meet with seven individual titles and 161 points, well clear of Washington (105) and USC (101) in second and third, respectively. On the women's side, the Ducks won five titles on their way to 167 points, good for a 64.5-point cushion over runner-up Colorado (102.5).
Williams becomes the sixth UO man to win Track Athlete of the Year, joining past standouts Galen Rupp (2009), Andrew Wheating (2010), Devon Allen (2016), Kyree King (2017) and Cravon Gillespie (2019).
Williams accounted for 21.5 points at the Pac-12 Championships on his way to earning Men's Athlete of the Meet. He competed the 100/200 sprint double, winning the former in a meet-record time of 9.93 to eclipse the previous mark of 9.97 shared by Gillespie and Andre De Grasse. In winning the 200, Williams stopped the clock in a lifetime best of 20.05 to move to No. 2 on the UO all-time list.
The Portland native began Sunday finals with a third-place finish with the Ducks' 4x100-meter relay.
2022 Pac-12 Track and Field Awards
MEN
Track Athlete of the Year: Micah Williams, Oregon
Field Athlete of the Year: Mykolas Alekna, Cal
Freshman of the Year: Mykolas Alekna, Cal
Coach of the Year: Robert Johnson, Oregon
WOMEN
Track Athlete of the Year: Abby Nichols, Colorado
Field Athlete of the Year: Jorinde Van Klinken, Arizona State
Freshman of the Year: Micaela De Mello, Washington State
Coach of the Year: Robert Johnson, Oregon
All conference honors are selected by a coaches' vote.
Oregon continues the 2022 postseason at the NCAA West Preliminary (May 25-28) in Fayetteville, Ark. The top 48 accepted individuals and 24 relays in the region will vie for 12 qualifying spots for the NCAA Championships (June 8-11) in Eugene.
All-session and single-day tickets for the 2022 NCAA Championships are currently on sale. Click HERE or call 800-WEBFOOT (932-3668) to purchase.
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