The Williams siblings didn’t disappoint with their efforts at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Oregon.
Kendell Williams, the younger sibling, won her second consecutive heptathlon title Saturday with a total score of 6,265 points — 306 ahead of Kansas State’s Nina Schultz. The win gave her three NCAA heptathlon titles to go along with four NCAA pentathlon (indoor) titles.
Setting personal-best marks in javelin throw and long jump, Kendell Williams, a senior at the University of Georgia, coasted to a wire-to-wire victory in the seven-event competition. She opened with wins in the 100-meter hurdles and high jump. After coming in ninth in shot put, she placed second in three consecutive events to build a comfortable margin at the top before finishing 13th in the final event of the heptathlon, the 800-meter run.
A Marietta native and Kell High School graduate, Kendell Williams is a seven-time U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) All-American. She also won the 2016 USTFCCCA National Women’s Field Athlete of the Year. With 6,402 points, Williams set the school record and earned a spot in the Olympics with a third-place finish in the trials. In Rio, she finished in 17th place with 6,221 points. At Kell, Williams was named the 2012-13 Gatorade National Girls Track and Field Athlete of the Year.
In the decathlon, Devon Williams of UGA easily bested his previous top finish at the NCAA Outdoor Championships with a second-place finish on Thursday. He set personal bests in the 100-meter dash, high jump and pole vault en route to his second best-ever point total of 8,181 points. Texas A&M’s Lindon Victor won his second consecutive title with 8,396 points. Williams won the long jump and 110-meter hurdles during the competition.
Unable to compete in 2014 and 2015 because of injury, Devon Williams finished ninth in the 2016 decathlon to earn second-team All-American honors. He placed fifth in the Olympic Trials, two spots out of qualification. Earlier this year, Williams won the heptathlon at the NCAA Indoor Championships, giving him his second first-team All American honors after he finished fifth in 2015.
Also a Kell High School graduate, Devon Williams was named the Atlanta Track Club Man of the year in 2012. He starred as a wide receiver on the football teams that won region titles in 2010 and 2011.
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