Indiana track recruit Evan Williams wasn’t going to be conquered on his home track of Lawrence Central during the sectional meet on Thursday.
He treated the event like a home football game with the visitors trying to take what is his.
“Go in there and show them why it’s my house,” Williams said on his mindset. “I got all the records here — pretty much own it. You just got to believe you’re that guy.”
With his bright green spikes, Williams bolted off the starting point and into his stride in the 110-meter hurdles. He never conceded the lead. He kept control and separated himself from the pack with about three hurdles to go.
He cleared the final hurdle and clocked in 13.86, a new personal best this season. He clinched a sectional title in the 110 hurdles and also won the 200-meter dash (21.54) as an individual.
The crowd at Lawrence Central witnessed the healthy version of Williams, who has been a gold standard for the Bears over the last few years.
A premiere track athlete that climbed the ranks of track excellence and won’t let injuries derail his spot in the Indiana track hierarchy. He’s a senior who dealt with injuries this season but has returned to top shape just in time for the postseason.
“Oh man, I’ve had my hamstring and my calves really bothering me but no adversity we can’t handle,” Williams said. “Yeah, just going to training, working through it and now we’re feeling good, ready to compete.”
This healthy version of Williams is a scary sight for the opposition. The future Hoosier entered the postseason with the state’s seventh-best time (14.26) in the 110-meter hurdles, even when he wasn’t at his best. He topped his previous best on Thursday, a clear indication that he’s back.
“I just feel like he’s got that dawg in him,” said Lawrence Central junior Santana Ector. “He’s definitely a leader and a role model. He sets the bar for the rest of us. Let’s us know where we can be and I definitely look up to him.”
Williams has forged his name with his work ethic. His mentality was built back when he was a youngster three stepping on shoe boxes in his basement. He is also a fourth-generation track runner. His great grandfather, grandfather and father all competed on the oval. His older brother, Micah, is a track athlete at Marian.
He’s continued that family lineage and created his own legacy at Lawrence Central. Last season, he placed second at outdoor state with a school-record time of 13.65 in the 110 hurdles. During the indoor season, he broke state indoor records at the Hoosier State Relays in the 60-meter hurdles and 60-meter dash on March 11.
He clocked in a 7.57 in the hurdles before he turned in a 6.71 in the dash. That indoor distinction was a prologue to his outdoor campaign.
“It was amazing just to feel like a winner,” Williams said. “That was enough for me to continue to run, and I’m taking it to college and make it a great season.”
Williams hadn’t had the luxury of being 100% for most of his senior outdoor season. He tweaked his hamstring in the team’s 4×100-meter relay during the first meet of the season before he suffered that same injury a week later.
Through the setbacks, Williams has stayed true to himself. He’s a competitor. The kind that has trusted the rehab process and got back to doing what he does best — compete.
“He’s finally able to start to put force back on the ground,” said Micah Williams, his dad and hurdles coach. “He had a lump and tightness in one his hamstrings. We have just slowly been rehabbing that before and after practice. Having him do a little bit of extra work at home.
“I think, finally, at the right time of the season, we’re trying to peak and just make sure that he can put force in the ground, stay tight over the hurdle and just make sure he gets on the ground and he sprints because there’s no other hurdler in this state that’s faster than him on the ground.”
Williams has earned the distinction as one of the best hurdlers in the state. He’s confident but humble. He sets a high standard by the way he prepares and doesn’t expect anything less from himself.
He’s still chasing an outdoor state championship, an accolade that starts at practice. Williams is hopeful that he can add more gold to his resume, but at the end of the day, he just wants to compete.
That drive is in his blood.
It’s an ambition that glowed on Thursday when pitted against other hurdlers that dared to challenge him on his home track. He secured a home win and dominated from the opening gun.
“I’ve had years to work on my start, so I already know if the start’s good the rest is going to come,” Williams said. “So, I just tell myself,’ One good start is all it takes’”.
Team results:
North Central 141.5; Lawrence Central 117; Bishop Chatard 107; Brebeuf Jesuit 79.5; Heritage Christian 39, Cathedral 32; Shortridge 20; Park Tudor 19; Tech 14.5; International 4; Purdue Poly 4; Indiana Math & Science 4; Purdue Poly-Broad Ripple 2
Top 3 individual results
4×800 relay: North Central 8:02.66, Lawrence Central 8:36.65, Heritage Christian 8:44.76
110 hurdles: Evan Williams, Lawrence Central, 13.86, Greg Peterson-Lee, Lawrence Central, 15.11, Tate Chesebrough, Bishop Chatard, 15.12
100: Cameron Berry, Cathedral, 10.65, Edwin Watson, Brebeuf Jesuit, 10.88, Eric Anderson, North Central, 10.94
1600: Owen Pritchard, North Central, 4:33.94, Ollie Haug, Brebeuf Jesuit, 4:34.94, Dawson Pikus, North Central, 4:36.76
4×100 relay: Lawrence Central 42.07, North Central 42.07, Cathedral 42.14
400: Phoenix Boyer, Bishop Chatard, 48.86, Abriel Harris-Sproles, North Central, 50.37, Malachi Lesnet, Brebeuf Jesuit, 51.12
300 hurdles: Tanner Sparks, Bishop Chatard, 40.75, Braylon Stallings, North Central, 41.82, Tate Bushong, Cathedral, 41.92
800: Zach Gantz, Bishop Chatard, 1:53.11, Bryson Jones, Lawrence Central, 1:59.93, Willem Hobson, Heritage Christian, 2:00.06
200: Evan Williams, Lawrence Central, 21.54, Garland Davenport, North Central, 22.41, Ethan Braden, North Central, 22.47
3200: Keegan Terry, North Central, 9:35.84, Owen Pritchard, North Central, 9:45.90, Damian Cain, Bishop Chatard, 9:58.65
4×400 relay: Bishop Chatard 3:20.37, North Central 3:26.64, Cathedral 3:29.07
High jump: Christian Brown, North Central, 6-2, LaRon Suggs, Shortridge, 6-0, Alexander Do, Lawrence Central, 6-0
Pole vault: Cohen Betz, Bishop Chatard, 12-0, Jack Duffer, Brebeuf Jesuit, 12-0, Max Whitfield, North Central, 11-6
Long jump: Cam Harden, Bishop Chatard, 23-1, Jeremiah Gillispie, North Central, 22-1.25, Cameron Kelley, Brebeuf Jesuit, 21-7.75
Discus: Mark Gates, Heritage Christian, 154-2, Javon Grandberry, Lawrence Central, 142-1, Jaden McClendon, Bishop Chatard, 138-4
Shot put: Seun Morakinya, Lawrence Central, 47-4, Oliver Coicou, Bishop Chatard, 46-6, Ko’ Moni Ford, Lawrence Central, 46-6
Marc Ray is a high school sports reporter at the IndyStar. He can be reached at marc.ray@indystar.com , and on X, formerly Twitter, at @themarcszn.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Now healthy, Lawrence Central senior Evan Williams wins two sectional titles
Reporting by Marc Ray, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
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