Kaaron Conwright

Kaaron Conwright (born August 8, 1976) is a former American sprinter who specialized in the 100-metre dash.

Early life and collegiate records

Conwright graduated from Westchester High School in Los Angeles.^[1]

As a sprinter at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, Conwright was a three-time NCAA All-American in the 100m and a two-time All-American in the 200m. In the Big West Conference, he was a four-time champion in the 100m from the years of 1996 through 2000, and he still holds the conference championship-meet record at 10.12 seconds. He later went on to run a 10.10 at the national championships that same year. He was also a two-time BWC champion in the 200m.

Conwright also played two seasons of football for Cal Poly, competing as a wide receiver and kick returner in 1995 (averaging 20.1 yards) and then defensive back in 1996 (making 19 tackles and two interceptions).^[2]

International success

In 1999, he ran first leg on the gold medal-winning 4-by-100m relay at the World University Games in Palma De Mallorca, Spain. In 2001, he repeated his performance, running first leg on the silver medal-winning 400m relay at the World University Games in Beijing, China.

At the 2002 IAAF World Cup, he won the 4-by-100 metre relay race together with Jon Drummond, Jason Smoots and Coby Miller.^[3] At the 2006 IAAF World Cup, he won the relay again, this time with Wallace Spearmon, Tyson Gay and Smoots, in a championship record of 37.59 seconds.

His personal-best time in the 100-metre dash was 10.05 seconds, achieved in July 2000 in Flagstaff. His personal-best time over 60 metres is 6.61 seconds, achieved in March 2003 in Boston. In the 200 metres, he ran 20.59 seconds, achieved in July 2002 in Rome.^[4]

Coaching

Conwright later served as head sprint coach for the National Korean Federation from 2007 through 2008^{[citation needed]} and then became an assistant coach under Olympian and Olympic Coach John Smith.^{[citation needed]}

References

1. Wallner, Peter J. (May 22, 1998). "Poly's Conwright sees room for improvement". San Luis Obispo Telegram-Tribune. pp. C1.
2. Wallner, Peter J. (August 9, 1995). "Poly football starts to rumble with arrival of newcomers". San Luis Obispo Telegram-Tribune. pp. C-1.
3. Gifford, Clive (2004). A World-Class Sprinter. Heinemann Library. p. 39. ISBN 9781403446695.
4. Kaaron Conwright at World Athletics