Micah Williams Putting All The Pieces Together In Pursuit Of Goals

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

Last June when Micah Williams traveled from Portland to Indiana to compete at the USATF Junior Outdoor Championships, he was really going there to test himself against competition. 

Experience, says Benson Tech track coach Leon McKenzie, is what gives a sprinter "gristle," a hardening and toughness that is acquired through the fire of high-level racing. 

Half of the 18 competitors in the men's 100-meter dash at the junior championships were college freshmen. Williams, coming off a pair of Oregon state titles and a second-place finish at the Brooks PR Invite in Seattle, was just a 10th grader. 

"We're warming up and you had all these guys from (college), and he said to me 'I think I can get with these guys,'" McKenzie said. "Now that's a hell of a thing to say. I got ready to say something negative and then was like, 'Nah, I'm not going to say that. That's how I want him to think!'"

Williams ran 10.51, the second-fastest time of his life, to make the final. And then he ran a personal-best 10.37 to place fourth and earn a relay spot on the U.S. team at the IAAF World U-20 Championships in Finland. 

All of the sudden, a sprinter from Oregon, where speed of this caliber is exceedingly rare, was on the national map.

"I went to that meet, but didn't think I was going to (qualify)," Williams said. "You had all these guys in college, besides Anthony (Schwartz) and Austin (Kratz), who were both headed to college. I just went there trying to PR, but these other guys motivated me to do better."

Williams made the trip to Tampere, Finland and ran in a prelim race of the 4x100 relay, helping the U.S. team make the finals. 

He didn't expect to be in the lineup for the final. But the relay coach, Wallace Spearmon, was so impressed with Williams' attention to detail and hard work that he chose the 16-year old for a plum assignment: The Anchor. 

Williams took the stick and held off the Jamaicans to win the for the U.S. in 38.88 seconds -- a world-leading U-20 time. 

Williams became the youngest U.S. male to win a gold medal at the World U-20 Championships. 

"It didn't hit me until later," Williams said. "I'm just running. I treated it like a business trip. It was the first gold medal that the U.S. got (in the meet), so I was excited. I wasn't supposed to run the anchor, but (the other runners) put me in a good position."

Rise Of A Sprint Star In Portland

Williams, now a junior, will compete Friday at the Nike Jesuit Twilight Relays in Portland. At stake is a chance to take down the all-time Oregon record in the 100 meters, 10.35 by Thomas Tyner in 2011. 

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Already this season, Williams ran the fastest 200 in state history when he went 21.03 to eke out a close victory at the Arcadia Invitational. Last weekend, he ran a season-best 10.39 at the Portland BWM Ulitmate Invitational at Tigard. 

In March, after a couple of promising races in the 60 meters, he flew to New York City and won the New Balance Nationals Indoor title in the dash -- 6.60 seconds for No. 3 all-time. 

Williams' rise as an athlete has much to do with his mother, Andrea Green, a two-time world champion natural and drug-free bodybuilder (NANBF/IFPA), and his grandmother, Janette Green.

Last year, Andrea Green won the Arnold Classic in the Amateur Master Figure category. 

In high school, she was a cheerleader and part of a dance team. Her brother was an an all-state running back. 

Her commitment to all things fitness -- diet, exercise, relentless pursuit of goals -- is evident in her only son, Micah (pronounced Mi-KI-uh). 

When he was little, he tried baseball and hated it. Too much standing around. He didn't like the idea of a baseball zooming at his head. 

He was a star football player, but that all began to change when a defender dove at his ankle during a game and broke Williams' leg. Subsequent to a documentary about concussions, Andrea decided to stop signing the waiver form to allow him to play. Over time, Williams has gravitated away from football and into full-time sprinting.

With his mother and grandmother focused on health and fitness, there is no other way for Micah to go.

"He doesn't eat the school lunch," Andrea Green said. "He eats a lot of salads and grilled chicken."

Janette Green, in addition to driving duties, prepares most of his meals. 

"To be at the level he is, nutrition is key," Andrea said. "You can't fuel your body with bad gasoline."

Mom and grandma are adamant about eating right and doing homework. 

Micah is taking three honors classes at Benson and has a 3.97 grade-point average. 

From an early age, he had an ability to process information and turn it into action. 

Longtime high school track coach Norm Oyler was one of the first to see it. He brought Micah to a local track at the age of 10 and began teaching him the technique for sprinting out of blocks. 

"He was like a sponge. He could hear you say it once and then do it," Oyler said. 

WATCH MICAH WILLIAMS COME FROM BEHIND AT WILLAMETTE FALLS INVITE

The Benson Legacy

Four years ago, Leon McKenzie had a retirement party. 

After more than three decades at Benson, where McKenzie and coaching partner John Mays mentored some of Oregon's all-time greats -- LaVon Pierce, Nate Anderson, Deb Jones and Kayla Smith, to name a few -- it seemed like it might be time to retire. 

But as Williams got into middle school, and broke records for the seventh and eighth grades, McKenzie and Mays couldn't turn away. 

"We've been blessed to have a lot of good runners," McKenzie said. "But (Micah) is just a little bit different and a little bit more special."

The wealth of acquired information that McKenzie and Mays have at their disposal is another asset for Williams. 

"Training methods. Science. We have a lot more information as coaches, more information about speed," McKenzie said. "But none of it works if he's not willing to accept it."

Mays points to three things that he said are at the root of Williams' success.

"Commitment. He's a good student. And he has an open mind and willing to accept advice and do what someone's asking him to do," Mays said. "His mother and grandmother keep him in line with all three things. He goes the extra mile to do what it takes to win."

McKenzie and Mays are interested in helping Williams address his weaknesses without pushing him too far before he reaches college. 

They see his forward lean and instruct him to run taller so that he can drive his knees higher. 

They work to expand the range of motion in his hips, which were tight and inflexible as a freshman. 

When Mays noticed Williams was dragging his foot out of the starting blocks, he resolved to fix it. He told Williams it was slowing him down, but the sprinter had seen others doing it. 

Mays suggested Williams call or send a message to Maurice Greene for a second opinon.

Williams went home and wrote to Greene. The former world record holder replied.

"(Maurice) told him everything I had told him," Mays said. 

The information is top-notch. The habits are dialed in. Williams is studious and humble. 

But McKenzie also loves that his young sprinter is "a raw dog competitor." 

"He never shies away from competition," McKenzie said. "When I talk about being a raw dog competitor, it means you don't take nothing from nobody. You're in there to go for it. But when it's done, you're respectful of your competitors."

In Portland these days, the attention and discussion swirls around Damian Lillard of the Trail Blazers. Lillard knocked Oklahoma City out of the playoffs last week with a series-ending 3-pointer that typifies his quiet confidence. Only a raw dog takes a shot like that. 

"Dame's like that," McKenzie said. "He doesn't say a lot, but you know inside he's boiling."

Williams mulls the comparison for a moment and likes it. 

"In the winter I was working hard. My friends were playing basketball and I just stayed on the track. It's hard coming from the West coast to (indoor nationals)," Williams said. "Being an outlier around here you get a little chip on your shoulder, being from Oregon. That's kind of like Damian Lillard. He's a Blazer. No one expects for him to be a superstar. He just believes he's one of the best in the league, and he is."

Williams also wants to be a role model. He's mulling his options for postseason track meet opportunites, and might try and make the U.S. team again for the Pan Am U-20 Championshps in Costa Rica in July. 

But he wants to have an impact on kids, as a counselor. He's interviewing for a job with Portland Parks and Rec.

Williams has other summer goals, too. He wants to get his license. He has his eye on car that he'd love (a Subaru BRZ). Benson's auto shop classes have stoked an interest in cars.

Anything that happens this spring on the track is pointing to next year anyway. The Olympic Trials, after all, will be only 100 miles away, in Eugene. 

There's a lot of work to do before that. 

"I just keep pushing," Williams said. 

For his coaches, McKenzie and Mays, coaching Williams is one of the biggest opportunities of their careers. They have one of the fastest kids in the country and they want to prepare him for more success after high school. 

"Gosh, after all these years, the bits and pieces, you are getting to see the whole thing with this kid," Mays said. "We're blessed that he's not hurt. It's a great way to wrap it up. A crowning achievement."