March 16, 2006
By Andrea Yeutter
Collegian Copy Editor

Freshman Jazmin Williams made a standout performance representing Hillsdale at the NCAA Division II indoor track national championship meet in Boston last weekend.

Williams ran the 400-meter dash, and finished 9th out of 18 runners in the preliminary race Friday with a time of 57.14 seconds. She was prevented from competing in the championship race by a mere .4 seconds.

“I was kind of disappointed, not so much angry, but disappointed,” Williams said. “I went into the race ranked No. 3 so I thought I would make top 5, and I was disappointed. But there wasn’t anything else I could do.”

Head Track and Field Coach Bill Lundberg said he was proud of Williams’ performance.

“Jazmin [Williams] is really tough,” he said. “She’s a great young lady and has had a great effort to accomplish everything she has during her first year.”

Williams has had a standout season, earning many points for the women’s teams in sprinting races and in the high jump and being named Freshman of the Meet during the GLIAC championship meet Feb. 25.

“The kind of performance she displayed [at the national meet] was remarkable,” Lundberg said. “The difference between being an All-American and advancing to the finals and being just cut off from that like she was, was not more than .4 second.”

Williams said even though she didn’t get to compete in the final race she was glad for the chance to go to nationals, and hopes to return.

“Overall it was a good experience,” she said. “I doubt I’ll be nervous next year because I’ve experienced the nerves and adrenaline going more than I should have this year.”

She said she also enjoyed meeting other track and field athletes from around the country.

While in the airport preparing to return to Michigan, Williams was approached by a star 400 runner from North Carolina Central who introduced herself to Williams and congratulated her on her accomplishments, Lundberg said.

“This senior girl grabbed [Williams’s] hand, shook it and said ‘You’re Jazmin Williams, the freshman runner from Hillsdale,’ and congratulated her on making it to nationals,” Lundberg said. “It’s touching because she was the competitor and she approached [Williams]. It’s so neat when you see athletes in the same sport supporting and congratulating one another.”

Williams said she took up track after being told she was exceptionally fast while playing basketball. She said she enjoyed running track for its competitive value, but didn’t consider running at the collegiate level until her high school coaches told her she might be good enough.

“I really started to work harder my junior and senior year of high school,” Williams said.

Williams said her success this year has surprised her. She expected to excel in the 55 hurdles rather than the 400 race, which she occasionally ran in high school, but in which she didn’t consider herself to be very good.

“I’ll probably keep going with the 400, but I do want to compete with hurdles, too,” she said. “I don’t want to drop anything; I want to improve.”