Kaaron Conwright

{{Short description|American sprinter (born 1976)}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}

{{Infobox sportsperson

| image =

| imagesize =

| caption =

| nationality =

| sport = Track and field

|disability =

|disability_class =

| event =

| club =

| coach =

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1976|8|8}}

| birth_place = Los Angeles, California, United States

| death_date =

| death_place =

| retired=

| height =

| weight =

| pb =

| medaltemplates =

{{MedalCountry|{{flagu|United States}}}}

{{MedalCompetition|Summer Universiade}}

{{MedalGold|1999 Palma de Mallorca|4x100m relay}}

{{MedalGold|2001 Beijing|4x100m relay}}

}}

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.{{Cite news |last=Wallner |first=Peter J. |date=May 22, 1998 |title=Poly's Conwright sees room for improvement |pages=C1 |work=San Luis Obispo Telegram-Tribune}}

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).{{Cite news |last=Wallner |first=Peter J. |date=August 9, 1995 |title=Poly football starts to rumble with arrival of newcomers |pages=C-1 |work=San Luis Obispo Telegram-Tribune}}

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.{{Cite book |last=Gifford |first=Clive |title=A World-Class Sprinter |publisher=Heinemann Library |year=2004 |isbn=9781403446695 |pages=39 |language=English}} 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.{{World Athletics}}

Coaching

Conwright later served as head sprint coach for the National Korean Federation from 2007 through 2008{{Citation needed|date=February 2010}} and then became an assistant coach under Olympian and Olympic Coach John Smith.{{Citation needed|date=February 2010}}

References

{{Reflist}}