ANGELA WILLIAMS

Quadruple Take

By USC Athletics Black History Month

February 26^th, 2015

By Jessica Onyepunuka

Angela Williams is in any conversation about the all-time greatest female collegiate sprinters. Small in stature, she has always come up big on the track. Since the age of nine, Williams has been lighting up the track with her speed and breaking records every step of the way. Her humble demeanor would never give away that the record books are littered with her name. Whether it is the record she set when she was 12 years old in the 100-meter dash that still stands today or the World Junior Championship record that was barely broken last year after standing for 16 years, Angela Williams is a legend.

When she arrived to USC, everyone knew she was special. However, the feats she accomplished during her collegiate career were mind-boggling. Though a freshman, she destroyed her competition, arriving at the NCAA Championships as the rookie that everyone feared. She won the NCAA 100m championship by running 11.04, a new USC school record.

She went through next two years accumulating records and All-American awards, and even picked up a silver medal at the World Indoor Championships. As a sophomore, she won the NCAA 100m title in 11.12. She became the first woman to make it three-for-three as a junior, capturing the 100-meter crown in 11.05w.

If she truly wanted to do what no man or woman had done, she needed to win her fourth NCAA Championship in the 100-meter dash. This would be no easy feat. USC was stacked with sprinters like Natasha Meyers, let alone competitors from other universities. That summer, Angela showed up ready to run. She knew that she would need to fight to win. Her determination led to a fourth win, this time in 11.29, and solidified her name in the record books – forever. As recognition for one of the greatest collegiate careers by any woman in any sport, Williams was named winner of the 2002 Honda-Broderick Cup, given annually to the nation’s best female collegiate athlete.

FUN FACTS

• Angela has broken every 100-meter dash record since she was nine years old, including five different age groups.
• Angela has earned 4 medals from World Championship competitions, including a gold medal in the 60-meter dash at the 2008
World Indoor Championships.
• Angela ran to a silver medal on the 4x100m sprint relay with fellow Trojans, Inger Miller and Torri Edwards, at the 2003 World
Championships.
• Angela was named High School Athlete of the Year TWICE by Track and Field News.