Wingspan: What has been the proudest moment in your cross country career?

Williams: “I think the proudest moment in my xc career was my sophomore year. I was not supposed to make it past regionals. I was ranked 23rd in the region but I ended up running one of my best times and made it to the top 10. I qualified for state individually and I ended up running a new PR.”

Wingspan: How did you get into running?

Williams: “I’ve always been surrounded by running my whole life. My mom and dad ran track, and grandpa ran track in college. Ever since I was little I’ve always just been running around everywhere so it just made sense to put me in that sport. As I got older I grew to love it even more and it became something I wanted to do in a competitive setting.”

Wingspan: What has been the biggest challenge you have faced in a meet?

Williams: “I would say the biggest challenge I’ve faced was shortness of breath during a race. I have a heart murmur so sometimes it makes it even harder for me to breathe while running. I have taken an inhaler before but sometimes it doesn’t always make a difference depending on the weather and the atmosphere. Or at my state meet I ran on a sprained ankle that was hard.”

Wingspan: Are you planning on running in college? If so, where do you want to do so?

Williams: “I do plan on running in college or at least that’s the goal. I would love to run track in college more than xc. I am determined to go D1 but whatever happens I will be happy with it. My top school right now is Oklahoma University, or University of Texas. I would love to run at either but they are hard schools to get into athletic wise, it takes a lot of hard work.”

Wingspan: What is your favorite part about being a part of the cross country team?

Williams: “My favorite part about being on the xc team is definitely the people. We all create really fun memories and a family-like bond. If I didn’t have these amazing people beside me it probably would be miserable half the time. I just enjoy cheering people on and we all push each other to be better runners.”

Wingspan: How do you manage to train daily and keep up with school?

Williams: “I just make sure I am always on top of things rather than writing a list of things to do that day, schoolwork wise. After practice every day we have study hall so I make sure to get most things done in that time. It was hard at first but I’m so used to balancing multiple things at once it kinda just comes naturally.”