PORTLAND, Ore. - Portland State senior sprinter Karene King is the fastest indoor 200-meter runner in Portland State and the British Virgin Islands' history - Both record books say so. Let that sink in for a minute.

On Feb. 11 King, hailing from Tortola, British Virgin Islands, ran 24.02 seconds in the 200-meters at the Don Kirby Invitational in Albuquerque, N.M., surpassing PSU's record by .12 and her country's record by .08, set by Olympian Tahesia Harrigan in 2002, an idol and mentor to King.

"It means a lot to me to break her record," reflected King, "Because in our country there are not a lot of runners and she is one of the top-runners and she was my only mentor and the only person I looked up to."

King and three other teammates, Geronne Black, P'Lar Dorsett and Anaiah Rhodes, were originally scheduled to compete at the Husky Classic in Seattle, Wash., with the rest of the Vikings.

The team had performed so well there Jan. 22 that Head Coach Ronnye Harrison decided to take his sprinting corp to New Mexico to close the regular season.

As the saying goes - if the shoe fits, wear it. Three of the four runners at the meet ran personal-bests, headlined of course, by King's national record.

"So far it has not settled in to me yet. Coach Harrison keeps telling me 'Do you realize how fast you've run?' And I just say 'I don't know.' I really thought at this point, when I broke a record, that I would be ecstatic. I don't know why I don't feel ecstatic," laughed a glowing King.

"But I think I don't feel that way because I feel like I have more, I can give more, I can do more. There's more in me. I'm not at my full potential yet."

King bashfully smiled and said her goal at the beginning of the indoor season was "24 seconds flat, but I don't think it's that anymore. My new goal is 23.80 seconds, which would break the Big Sky's all-time record in the 200-meters."

King will attempt to break the Big Sky's all-time record of 23.82 at the Big Sky Indoor Championship Feb. 25-26 in Pocatello, Idaho. If she runs the same 24.02 next week, she will eclipse the Big Sky Championship meet record of 24.03.

Last year in an interview, King stated "Harrigan is our number one sprinter in the British Virgin Islands. She is the only person on top. She's always going to meets by herself. I want to be there with her. We have one top-sprinter and I want to make it two”

King followed up this year by saying "For me to break (Harrigan's) indoor 200-meter record, it shows me that I can do it, I can reach where she is right now."

Harrigan broke the British Virgin Islands and Minnesota's 200-meters record at the Big-10 Championships with her 24.10 Feb. 24, 2002, nine years ago to the day. She has since gone on to record a career-best 11.13 in the 100-meters and a 22.98 in the 200-meters. She represented the British Virgin Islands at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing and advanced to the second round of the 100-meters competition.

All records, fame and glory aside, King is focused on her tasks at hand this weekend.

"I'm very excited for (the Big Sky Championships)," said King, "At last year's championship, I was disqualified in the 200 and I never cried so much because it is my favorite event. This year I'm feeling more confident, more prepared, I know how to run a bank and I know what to do. And by God's grace, I'll be able to finish on top."

Approaching the 2010 indoor season, King had never competed indoors or run on a 200-meter banked track, a standard component for most indoor tracks around the country. She was disqualified for a lane violation in the preliminary round. "I didn't know how to run on an indoor track at all last year and I was learning through the whole year. Now that I know, I'm so confident in doing it."

King will have her chance to win gold and improve her national record on day one of the championship at 5:25 p.m., pacific with the preliminary round of the 200-meters.

The finals will take place Saturday afternoon and she will look to become only the third PSU champion in that event. King enters the event as the No. 1 seed and the No. 2 seed in the 60-meters. Live results can be followed on GoViks.com.