William F. King quickly made a name for himself as a freshman in 1981 when he was the top freshman finisher in the 1981 NCAA Cross Country Championships for the national champion Marauders. That was only the start of a prodigious track and cross country career in which he became one of the most decorated distance runners in school history.
A two-time captain of the cross country team, King was a Division II Cross Country All-American in 1983 and 1984 and qualified for the national championships all four years of his career. He was also an All-American in track as a senior. Three times he was named All-Intercollegiate Association of Amateur Athletes of America (ICAAAA), and in 1983 he became one of Millersville’s two ICAAAA champions. King placed third at the 1983 PSAC Championships and bested that with a runner-up finish as a senior to become a four-time All-PSAC honoree.
King’s teams were just as successful. Along with winning the cross country national title in 1981, his 1984 squad captured the NCAA Division II Northeast Region Championship.
His post-Millersville career was equally impressive as he placed 53rd overall and 14th among all American runners in the 1993 Boston Marathon. He also took fourth place in the USA 20K National Road Race Championships in 1988. King’s achievements away from running also stand out. King graduated with a bachelor’s of science degree in industrial arts education in 1985 and a master’s in secondary school administration from the University of Scranton in 1993. He taught industrial arts at West Scranton High School for seven years before moving into administration, where he served as an assistant principal or principal at three Scranton schools. In 2008, he became an adjunct professor at Keystone College and he was recently named acting superintendent of Scranton Schools. King also went on to be the founder and race director of the Steamtown Marathon to benefit St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital in Scranton, Pa. He has also served as Pennsylvania Intercollegiate Athletic Association (PIAA) District II Cross Country Chairman.
King and his wife Lynn Healey King have three daughters: Caroline, Amelia and Alexandra.
