Williams Makes History With NCAA Performance

Courtesy of Edgewood College

CLAREMONT, Calif. -- All Josh Williams had to do to make it a historic night was step on the track at Burns Stadium for the NCAA Division III Track and Field Championships. However, just showing up wasn't enough for him, so Williams wrapped up the season with one more elite performance. The first Edgewood College track and field athlete to qualify for nationals, Williams finished for 15th in the nation with a time of 14:48.06 in his first national championship experience on the track.

It only took two laps for a lead group of runners to take shape. Tim Nelson of UW-Stout, who won the 10,000 meter title on Thursday, Jordan Schilit of Haverford, Lee Berube of Geneseo State and Ben Sathre of St. Thomas pulled ahead of the field quickly. Williams stayed in the front of the chase pack for the next several laps.

About nine minutes into the race, the chase pack started to separate, with Williams holding his own in ninth place. However, by the time Nelson began to open up his lead with two laps to go on his way to another national title, Williams had slipped into the second half of the field.

Williams time of 14:48.06 was the second fastest 5,000 meter race in Edgewood College history, falling short only of his own 14:28.49 time from 15 days ago which qualified him for nationals. All 14 of the runners who finished ahead of Williams were juniors and seniors, while Williams, who sat out all of the 2011 season with an injury, is only a sophomore.