Kevin Arthur sprints his way toward NCAA DIII Championships

St. John’s senior sprinter Kevin Arthur recently won his fourth MIAC men’s track weekly honor this past week by recording a personal best time of 10.38 seconds to win the 100-meter dash preliminary event at the Division I Minnesota’s Gary Wilson Invitational.

Arthur is a global business major and returned this spring to run on the SJU track and field team with his extra year of eligibility.

“SJU track means a lot to me. I have developed friendships and connections with different people from diverse backgrounds. The team has taught me to appreciate the highs and lows in the sport. I have learned to be responsible and lead by example since being on team, and it is also cool to know there are people who see me as role model,” Arthur said.

Competing in both indoor and outdoor tournaments, track and field athletes have two to three events that they specialize in to score the most points for their respective team.

Since 2020, Arthur has competed in many different events, but most recently two separate distances have put him in top-ranked positions going into conference and national championship meets.

Arthur currently sits sixth in the 100-meter dash and 26th in the 200-meter dash.

“It feels good to be high in the rankings, especially at this point in the season. It does take a lot of pressure off your shoulders while boosting confidence as well. When conferences come around, I can focus on just winning my races and scoring the maximum points possible without having to worry about the times I run,” Arthur said.

According to Arthur, while preparing for track and field events, he has established a routine that works for him.

“Recovery is definitely one of my priorities when preparing for competition. I believe in taking adequate rest when needed and taking good care of the body always and throughout the week leading to competition. I do this by seeing the trainers after workouts to get my stretches and icing done,” Arthur said.

Josh Sletta—a roommate, friend and supporter of Arthur—recalls when Arthur broke the school record for the 200-meter dash.

“We were competing at Hamline early in the outdoor season, and while we were getting ready for the 200-meter dash, Kevin confidently told me he was going to break the school record. At this time, the school record in the 200 was 21.54 (converted). During that race Kevin had accomplished what he set out to do by running 21.50,” Sletta said. “It was an amazing race to witness, but what makes this such a core memory is that almost all our 200-meter sprinters had amazing personal bests. Kevin, although excited about his new school record, was more thrilled for his teammates accomplishing new personal bests.”

Arthur looks to officially qualify for the 2024 DIII Outdoor Track and Field Championships in the coming weeks, which will take place from May 23-25.

For now, Arthur looks to continue improving on his personal bests with the MIAC Championships next week on May 10-11.