Kendell Williams blossoms in the hurdles

When Kendell Williams was 7 years old, she discovered she had a future in track.

Her father, Blane Williams, told MaxPreps, "We dragged her to so many baseball games (to watch older brother Devon) and she had to spend every day under the bleachers playing with her Barbie dolls. She spent every birthday at baseball games.

"At 7 years old, she kicked off her shoes and beat almost every boy (8-10 year-olds) in a race across a grassy field. Running barefooted. I thought we probably needed to see if her talent (could) be cultivated."

Kendell explained, "I was sitting there and had nothing else to do. I got up and raced. I didn't know I was going to do that well."



Blane immediately signed her up with the East Cobb Track Club, a recreation program in their hometown of Marietta, Ga. Later he moved her to the more competitive First Light Track Club in Marietta where she came under the guidance of a good friend, Tony Dunning.

Dunning told him, "Man, I can't wait for her to get on those hurdles. She's going to be a great hurdler. She's going to be a national champion. He taught me how to teach her about hurdles."

Dunning concedes, "I think everyone is going to be a great hurdler. She had ideal size and speed. When I put her through the first drills, she was more naturally gifted. She had no trouble three-stepping those 80-meter hurdles. By 11 she already was national class."

Kendell admitted, "At first I was like 'No way I could jump over those hurdles.' (Later) It was like – 'Wow – maybe he (Dunning) was right.' To me hurdling is easier (than other events), because it's more fun and kind of challenging. It felt good to take on a challenge."

It wasn't too long before Kendell gave up ballet, cheerleading and basketball to concentrate on track.

Though she's just a sophomore at Kell (Marietta, Ga.), the 5-foot-9 standout already has established herself as one of the nation's premier hurdlers. For example, she never has lost an outdoor hurdles race, counting more than 100 victories during the past five years in races between 100 and 400 meters.



Her career-best times thus far are: 8.06 seconds in the 55 hurdles, 8.49 in the 60, 12.63 in the 80, 13.57 in the 100, 26.10 in the 200, 41.30 in the 300 and 58.63 in the 400.

"It feels great - really, really great," she said of her dominance in outdoor hurdles races. "But at the same time, it puts a lot of pressure on me because I want to keep it going."

Recently she set personal records in the high jump (5-8 ½) and the long jump (19-8 ¾) during the University of Kentucky High School Invitational. Because of this all-around ability, she also is a standout in the heptathlon.

Kendell has come a long way from the 7 year-old who always got so nervous before each race.

"She used to put a lot of pressure on herself," Blane recalled. "I could see her tensing up. She would break out with a rash on her top lip. A doctor told us it was stress. I used to call her goofy names. I'd say ‘Run like a duck' or ‘Fly like a chicken' to break her stress. I always yell out ‘Clean and smooth.' I always remind her to have fun, because she's not getting paid."

Kendell claimed her first national victory as an 11 year-old in the 80 hurdles during the AAU Junior Olympics.
She was so outstanding at age 14 that she won the prestigious Joel Ferrell Award, which goes to the AAU Athlete of the Year. At the end of the 2009 campaign, she set four national records during the AAU Junior Olympics in Des Moines, Iowa.



She really blossomed during her freshman year at Kell High School.

In March she set a national freshman pentathlon record with 3,561 points at the Nike Indoor Nationals in Boston.

After tying the state high jump record at 5-8 during the region championships in April, she won Georgia state titles in the 100 and 300 hurdles – both in record times – in May. She later was named Georgia Gatorade Female Athlete of the Year.

The summer before her sophomore year, she won three gold medals and set two records during the Caribbean Scholastic Invitational in Carolina, Puerto Rico, and five golds during the AAU Regional Championships.

Continue reading{PAGEBREAK}However, Blane believes his daughter's greatest meet was the New Balance Outdoor National Championships during June in Greensboro, N.C., where she swept both hurdles events (100 and 400) and defeated several older girls who had beaten her indoors.

"They had international experience," he said of some of the top girls that Kendell had beaten. "They were heavy hitters. Some drove themselves to the meet (she wasn't old enough to drive)."



During the AAU Junior Olympic Championships in Norfolk, Va., she won three gold medals and set a world record (58.63) in the 400 hurdles. She also set a national freshman heptathlon record with 4,914 points. That clinched her second Joel Ferrell Award as the AAU Athlete of the Year.

Despite her youth, Kendell has amassed so many medals and trophies that the family can't house all of them anymore.

"We stopped bringing trophies home," Blane said. "We give them to our club (The Heat Track Club in Marietta where he now serves as president) or to the coaches. Her trophies and medals are totally ridiculous. I put a nail on the mantel and hang medals on it until it can't hold them."

More records appear in the offing since she is just a sophomore and because she knows she can improve her technique.

"I should be lower, but I kind of jump a little too high," she confessed. "I'm working on getting lower over them (just skimming the tops), because it will make my times a lot faster."

Dunning definitely expects his protégé to get faster and predicts a very bright future. He points out, "Considering so much more physical maturity, she has unlimited potential in both events (100 and 400). She could run in the 12s (in the 100) before she graduates from high school. Every time she wins something, she calls and thanks me. I keep telling her to stop doing that."



She studies videos of Lolo Jones, who won the 100 hurdles at the 2008 Olympics, and Dawn Harper. She has met Jones and had their picture taken together at an LSU indoor meet.

Kendell, who carries a 3.8 GPA, already has letters from 50 colleges, but says she has no favorite at this time.

Her school activities include serving as manager for the boys basketball team and being a part of Kell's Angels, who do community services such as helping to feed the homeless and visiting children at an orphanage.

Blane says he is most pleased with his daughter's "progression. When she first started, she looked real awkward and gangly. The biggest key is the consistency. She has managed the emotion and the stress. I see her this summer trying to make the World Youth Team. She qualified last year, but she was too young. I just want her to continue progressing. She wants a post-collegiate career (Olympics and professional). Track is a journey and not judged by one race or season."

The journey is long, but she is out of the blocks and off to a magnificent start.