World U20 100 Meters Record Holder Pursuing College Track At Oregon

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

One of the best nuggets of information to come out of Saturday's pre-meet press conference at the World Athletics U20 Championships came when Botswana's Lestile Tebogo said he was planning to attend Oregon in the fall. 

Tebogo broke the World U20 record in the 100-meter dash when he ran 9.94 seconds on the first day of competiton July 15 at the World Athletics Championships at Hayward Field. 

Tebogo, who is 19, advanced to the semifinal round of the men's 100 meters. 

In Cali, he's one of the favorites to win the gold medal. He won the World U20 title last year in Nairobi, Kenya, running 10.21 seconds. 

Sharing a stage with current University of Oregon shot putter Mine De Klerk from South Africa, Tebogo was asked whether he intended to turn pro or seek an opportunity in college. 

"Currently I'm working on going to college," Tebogo said. "I've been to the USA a couple of times and the best school by far is the University of Oregon, of which by the middle of September I'll be there."

It remains to be seen what the coaching staff looks like at Oregon after Jerry Schumacher was announced as the new head coach in early July. 

Oregon already has one of the top sprinters at the NCAA level in Micah Williams, who finished fourth and just .02 seconds out of making the U.S. team at the USATF Outdoor Championships in the 100 meters. Williams, who will be a junior, owns a best of 9.86 seconds.