Mason Lawyer makes his case as the fastest sprinter in Arizona annals | Michael Lev

When Mason Lawyer first arrived at Washington State in the summer of 2022, he envisioned himself as a 200- and 400-meter runner.

Sure, he had won the Idaho state championship in the 100 as a senior at Boise High School with a wind-aided personal-best time of 10.46 seconds. But he figured that was the best he could do. He didn’t believe his acceleration was good enough to regularly win 100-meter races at the next level.

Lawyer’s new sprints coach, Gabriel Mvumvure, had other ideas.

Mvumvure knew what it took to be a world-class 100-meter sprinter. He had been one himself at LSU, where he was a three-time All-American on the 4x100 relay team. He also represented Zimbabwe in the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Lawyer and Mvumvure were just starting their partnership that summer. Mvumvure was hired in late August from Brown. He didn’t recruit Lawyer to WSU. It didn’t take Mvumvure long to recognize Lawyer’s potential in the 100.

“By Week 5 of working in the fall,” said Mvumvure, who, like Lawyer, is nearing the end of his first season at the UA. “That's where we had that conversation: ‘You sure you’re a 200/400 guy?’”

Lawyer was getting faster ... faster than anticipated.

“It's like already?” Mvumvure said. “We just met and ... you're already doing this?”

Mvumvure asked Lawyer to trust him. Lawyer had track goals beyond college. He figured Mvumvure could help get him there because “he's done it himself. He's been in our shoes. He knows what it takes.”

By Lawyer’s junior year, the partnership manifested in spectacular results. Lawyer achieved personal-bests in the 100 (wind-aided 9.95) and 200 (20.34) at the NCAA West First Round meet. A year later, he topped himself.

Lawyer blazed to personal-bests in the 100 (wind-aided 9.93) and 200 (20.02) in the Big 12 Outdoor Championships at Drachman Stadium, his new home track, as an Arizona Wildcat. School and conference records were now his. He also anchored the 4x100 relay team that broke the UA mark (38.62 at Big 12s).

Now Lawyer and 18 of his teammates are headed to Eugene, Oregon, for the June 10-13 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Lawyer qualified in the 100, 200 and 4x100.

Looking back at the past two seasons while sitting in Mvumvure’s office at McKale Center, Lawyer pondered performances that he once deemed “unattainable.” But the unattainable, he added, is something he will pursue “'til the end of time.”

“There's a cool thing about track,” Lawyer said. “You’re pushing the human body to run as fast as possible. I was able to go out there and surprise myself.”

Change for the better

The fastest 100-meter sprinter in UA history never imagined he’d run for the Wildcats — or anyone other than the Washington State Cougars.

Then something happened that Lawyer didn’t see coming. It turned out to be a boon for the athlete and his coach.

On June 16, 2025, WSU announced that its track-and-field program was “shifting to a distance-focused approach.” Field events would be eliminated. Sprints and hurdles would be “limited moving forward.”

The WSU contingent that made the NCAA Championships had returned from Eugene the previous day. Mvumvure knew something was awry when he received an email to attend a meeting that would last 10 minutes.

Despite positive results with middling support, Mvumvure was told that his contract wouldn’t be renewed as the program was looking to head in a different direction. The jumps and throws coaches were told the same in 10-minute meetings immediately after Mvumvure’s.

“There was no explanation,” Mvumvure said. “The head coach was not in the meeting. Nobody ever told me anything. That was just that.”

Next came a Zoom call for the student-athletes. Lawyer sat in the virtual waiting room. He assumed there would be a coaching change or a schedule change. But then he noticed that about 30 athletic administrators were participating in the Zoom.

“I was like, ‘Oh, this might be a little bigger than what we all thought it was going to be,’” Lawyer said. “I started scrolling through the names of the people in the top of the Zoom with their cameras on. I was on the phone with my dad. I was like, ‘Dad, this doesn't look good.’”

Lawyer wasn’t interested in sticking around to see what “limited” sprints looked like — especially with Mvumvure being let go. So Lawyer lowered himself into the starting block and sprinted for the nearest exit.

“Probably 10 minutes after that Zoom meeting,” Lawyer said, “I was already in the transfer portal.”

Meanwhile, Mvumvure began the process of looking for a new job. Friends in the profession connected him with Andrew Dubs, who’d been hired as Arizona’s head coach on June 9. Dubs was still filling out his staff. The two talked and quickly developed a rapport.

“I wouldn’t even call it an interview. It was more like a conversation,” Mvumvure said. “He was trying to figure things out. I was trying to figure things out.”

Arizona officially hired Mvumvure on June 25. He wanted to bring Lawyer to Tucson. The idea appealed to Lawyer on two levels: (1) he’d have consistency and continuity with the same coach who’d helped him attain the unattainable; and (2) he could train outdoors, year-round, in the Southern Arizona sun.

Lawyer signed with the Wildcats on July 14.

Fastest in the family

The fastest 100-meter sprinter in UA history wasn’t sure track would be his sport.

Lawyer comes from a family of track athletes. His aunt and uncle won championships at Boise State. His father, Kerry, set records in the 60- and 100-meter dashes.

But Kerry and his wife, Jill, who was part of a national-championship-winning dance team at Boise State, didn’t push their children into any one particular sport. They didn’t want them to get burned out.

So Mason, the eldest of three boys, played basketball and lacrosse as a youth. He swam and played football in high school.

That cross-training made Lawyer a better sprinter, Mvumvure said.

“A little more body awareness goes a long way,” he said. “Elite athletes, especially in track, know exactly what their bodies are doing. ... When you play different sports, it creates a lot more awareness of what your limbs are doing in space, which is a phenomenal thing.”

Lawyer had offers to swim or play football. He chose track. He didn’t think he had the physique for football. Besides, he had family records to break.

Lawyer wanted to take down his father’s marks in the 60 (6.69 seconds, converted from 55 meters) and the 100 (10.21). When he eclipsed the latter with a time of 10.19 seconds at the WSU Cougar Classic on April 26, 2025, Lawyer made sure his father, who was helping to officiate a meet back home, knew about it.

“That was the ultimate goal,” Lawyer said. “I finally surpassed him my junior year. My mom and grandma were up there to watch it happen. So I grabbed my mom's phone, FaceTimed my dad, showed up to the board, where it says my name and the time I ran, and said, ‘Look who's the fastest.’”

Mason is the fastest Lawyer as of now, but he’d be proud to pass the metaphorical baton. Younger brother Chase already appears in the Boise State record book in the hurdles and 4x100 after just one season as a Bronco. Youngest brother Kade, a rising high school sophomore, is chasing Mason’s marks in the 100 and 200.

Lawyer has one more meet as a collegian to see how fast he can go. Then he will figure out what’s next.

He’s working toward a degree in Nutrition and Human Performance with the goal of becoming a physical therapist when he’s done running. He wants to keep running (a shoe sponsorship would help immensely). He’s trying to obtain Croatian citizenship (his mom’s home country).

“And then hopefully come 2028 have a lane for the Olympics,” Lawyer said.

A lot has to go right between now and then. But as Lawyer has learned, nothing is unattainable.