TUCSON — A year ago, Mason Lawyer was watching his peers compete at conference championships from home.
"While everyone else was at their conference meet running PRs and getting ready for regionals… I was at home watching it all on TV, wishing I could be there," Lawyer said.
Last Saturday, he made history at one.
The Arizona sprinter swept the men's 100m and 200m titles at the 2026 Big 12 Outdoor Championships, becoming the first Wildcat to accomplish that double since Olympian Michael Bates in 1991, a 35-year drought ended on his home track at Drachman Stadium in Tucson. The Big 12 later named him its Men's Outdoor Performer of the Year.
In the 100m, Lawyer clocked a wind-aided 9.93: the fastest time ever run by a Wildcat and the fastest all-conditions mark in Big 12 history.
He then went out and topped it. His 20.02 in the 200m shattered the school record, the facility record, and the Big 12 record, a time that ranks among the top 20 in the world this season.
The road to that performance was anything but straightforward.
Lawyer spent three seasons at Washington State University, where conference realignment kept him out of championship competition. When the Cougars later cut parts of their track program entirely, he faced a crossroads.
He found his answer by following his sprint coach, Gabriel Mvumvure.
"He knows how to push my buttons to really get me to that next level," Lawyer said.
Mvumvure has been with him since his freshman year at Washington State, to Arizona.
The move was also strategic. Lawyer knew Arizona would host the Big 12 Championships and trained all year with that stage in mind.
That preparation showed when it mattered most.
Beyond his individual titles, Lawyer helped anchor Arizona's 4x100m relay team to a school record, capping a championship weekend that lifted the Wildcats to a conference runner-up finish, their best since 2011.
"That was… it was pretty amazing," Lawyer said of the sweep.
Now the NCAA West First Round awaits on May 27 in Fayetteville, Arkansas, and Lawyer is not done chasing history.
"I'm capable of running those times again and just know that there's still room for improvement," Lawyer said.
