STANFORD-BOUND DECATHLETE WINS U.S. TITLE

June 26, 2014



STANFORD-BOUND DECATHLETE WINS U.S. TITLE



Williams advances to World Junior Championships



SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Stanford-bound Harrison Williams won the junior national championship in the decathlon on Thursday, scoring the second-highest total in U.S. history.



Williams, who signed a national letter of intent with Stanford in February, scored 7,734 points at the USA Track and Field Championships at Hornet Stadium and qualified for the IAAF World Junior Championships on July 22-27 in Eugene, Ore., by finishing among the top two. The score for the Memphis, Tenn., native was second only to the 7,748 by Gunnar Nixon of Santa Fe (Edmond, Okla.) in 2011 on the U.S. list for those 19 and under.



The heptathlon and decathlon are the only junior championship events being contested in conjunction with USATF’s national championships, which run through Sunday afternoon and feature most of the USA’s current Olympians, including gold medalists.



Williams, a recent graduate of Memphis University School, shattered his previous best of 7,181 set in the USA Junior Olympic championships last year. He beat runner-up Gabriel Moore by 140 points. Williams’ won only one event, his specialty, the pole vault (16-0 ¾). However, he was second in the long jump, high jump, and 400.



Here are Williams’ results, event-by-event:



First day:

100 meters – 10.82 (wind-aided), 901 points; Long jump – 22-11 1/4w (22-2 ½), 845; Shot put – 43-5 ¼, 682; High jump – 6-6 ¼, 794; 400 – 48.11, 904. Total: 4,126.



Second day:

110 high hurdles – 14.98, 852; Discus – 126-1, 633; Pole vault – 16-0 3/4 , 880; Javelin – 164-4, 590; 1,500 – 4:42.42, 653. Second-day total: 3,608. Final total: 7,734 (personal record, No. 2 U.S. junior all-time).



Two current Stanford athletes, each a 2014 NCAA outdoor finalist, competed on Thursday: junior Luke Lefebure in the men’s 800 and senior Michael Atchoo in the men’s 1,500. Lefebure ran 1:48.37, his second-fastest ever, to finish sixth in his heat and 15th overall, 0.35 from the final qualifying spot on time. Atchoo ran 3:48.47 to finish 12th in his heat and 24th overall.



Three Stanford athletes will compete Friday: junior Aisling Cuffe and redshirt junior Jessica Tonn in the women’s 5,000 final (9:05 p.m.) and redshirt junior Erik Olson in the men’s 5,000 final (9:25 p.m.). The sixth and final current Cardinal to compete will be freshman Valarie Allman in the women’s discus trials and final on Sunday (11:45 a.m.).



The meet runs through Sunday and will be televised live on Friday (NBCSN, 7 p.m.), Saturday (NBC, 1 p.m.) and Sunday (NBC, 1 p.m.).





For more information, contact:



David Kiefer

Assistant Athletic Communications Director

Stanford University

dkiefer@stanford.edu

(650) 759-0258, cell