Emmons King is in his third season leading the UIS cross country/track and field program in 2024–25, having officially been named head coach in the summer of 2025 after serving three years in an interim role. He has been a member of the program since 2018, first competing as a runner from 2018-2021, then serving as an assistant coach in 2021-2022. During the 2022-23 seasons, he helped UIS earn 18 all-conference awards, including seven individual GLVC Championships by three athletes.
The UIS Prairie Stars men's cross country team won its first GLVC Championship in 2022 after finishing in the top-3 every year since 2018. Wyatt McIntyre was the individual champion and GLVC Men's Cross Country Runner of the Year, while Coach King was the GLVC Men's Cross Country Coach of the Year. The UIS men's cross country team earned a bid to the NCAA DII Cross Country Championships, its first team qualification for the meet. The team finished 6th as Wyatt McIntyre finished 26th overall to become UIS men's cross country's first All-American.
UIS men's track and field finished 4th at the indoor and outdoor track and field GLVC Championships. In indoor track and field, five Prairie Stars earned seven medals in individual events, and were the GLVC Champions in the distance medley relay. Chris Cherry was the GLVC Men's Indoor Track and Field Athlete of the Year. UIS men's track and field nearly swept the distance events at the outdoor championships, winning all entered events including the 800m, 1500m, 5,000m, and 10,000m races and earning a total of seven medals.
In his first season on the coaching staff, King helped UIS to a successful campaign, including a second-place finish for the men's program at the GLVC Cross Country Championships. During the men's cross country campaign, four runners earned all-GLVC honors, including GLVC Runner of the Year Blake Jones and GLVC Freshman of the Year Chris Cherry. Jones and Wyatt McIntyre also earned all-region and advanced to the NCAA Division II National Championships. On the women's side, King trained Taryn Christy, who was all-GLVC, all-region, and also advanced to the national race.
King also helped the Prairie Stars have five all-conference performers during the 2022 track seasons, including a GLVC Championship in the men’s outdoor 1,5000m, and runner-up finishes in the men's indoor distance medley relay and the men's outdoor 10,000m. The track program set 10 school records during the indoor and outdoor seasons.
While at UIS, King competed in 10 cross country meets and 15 track events over his three seasons. In track, he had six top-five finishes, and qualified for two GLVC Championship track meets. Since joining the cross country program in 2018, he has helped the team finish third or better in every conference meet.
King was a two-time member of the GLVC Academic All-Conference team. He was UIS’s male recipient of the Spalding Sportsmanship Award in 2020, and attended the 2021 NCAA Emerging Leaders Seminar. King was also a valuable member of the UIS Athletics Gameday Staff during his three years as a student-athlete.
King attended Danville Area Community College for two years before coming to UIS. He is originally from West Lebanon, Ind. and was a cross country and track and field star at Seeger High School.
Coach King earned his bachelor’s degree in business and his master’s degree in communication from UIS.
