Former Oregon NCAA Champion And School Record Holder Leaving For USC

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

Micah Williams, the second-fastest collegian of all-time in the 100 meters with a best of 9.86, announced on social media Thursday that he is leaving Oregon and will compete at USC as a senior. 

Williams won the NCAA Division 1 indoor 60-meter title as a freshman in 2021 and his career at Oregon had some ups and downs. 

Williams was third in the NCAA outdoor 100-meter final in 2021 and finished seventh in both 2022 and 2023. 

He went out for the Oregon football team last fall but did not make it into a game. He injured his knee and underwent surgery, which prevented him from competing in 2024. 

Williams was a member of the U.S. Olympic team relay pool in 2021 in Tokyo but was not given an opportunity to race there. 

In high school, at Portland's Benson Tech, he emerged as a national caliber sprinter in a part of the country that produces very few. He won the New Balance Nationals Indoor 60-meter title in 2019 as a junior, running No. 3 all-time 6.60 seconds. 

COVID-19 wiped out Williams' senior year, but he immediately became the University of Oregon's greatest sprinter when he enrolled. Still, at the time of his graduation he was the fastest high schooler in 100 in the history of the entire West coast. 

And for three years, USC sprinters were among his top rivals. In 2021, he finished second to USC's Davonte Burnett, 10.05 to 10.09 in the Pac-12 final. 

Williams won the conference title the following two years, in 2022 and 2023. 

Oregon's fastest ever high school female sprinter, Mia Brahe-Pedersen, is also set to enter USC this fall.