Williams named an All-American at NJCAA Nationals
Levelland, TX-Debonaire Williams earned All-American honors in the decathlon, and the Broncbuster track team continued to make strides at the 2021 National Outdoor Track Meet at South Plains Junior College
Day 1
On the opening day, Ivan Cornelius ran away with the decathlon 100-meter title with a time of 10.84 seconds. That was followed by Cameron Collins, who set a new personal-best in the long jump with a mark of 6.02 meters. He also added a PR in the decathlon shot put (8.90 meters) and high jump (1.83 meters).
Williams cleared 1.74 meters in the high jump, a new career mark while Cornelius capped day one with a personal-best 52.39 in the decathlon 400-meter dash. In the long jump, Fabian Nava, who was seeded 21st, finished 16th, posting a mark of 6.75 meters. Finally, the men's 4x100 team (Maliek Roberson, Jalen Jackson, Thaj Ferguson, Jereun Wagner) recorded a time of 42.88 seconds, good for 14th.
On the women's front, the 4x100 relay squad of Diondra Wilborn, Erica Davis, Bethany Schupman and Tah't Brown, came in at 48.95 seconds, finishing 11th. Schupman then turned around and ran the 400-meter hurdles, placing 14th (1:12.48).
Day 2
Williams began the morning by clocking a 16.30 in the decathlon 110-meter hurdles while Cornelius and Cameron Collins ran personal bests in the event (17.17 and 18.26). Williams then took second in the discus, hitting a mark of 34.02 meters with Colins throwing a PR of 31.32 meters.
Collins definitely shined in the decathlon pole vault posting a PR of 3.05 meters. He then threw the javelin 43.79. Cornelius also set a new personal best in the javelin (39.29 meters).
Meantime Williams, who was sitting on the fringe of All-American status in the decathlon, raced to a sixth-place finish in the 1500-meter run, tallying a time of 4:59.81-a new career high and solidifying himself as one of the best athletes in the nation. He finished fourth in the decathlon with 5818 points. Cornelius also capped off the championships with a PR of 5:27.76. He took 12th and Collins was 17th.
Angel Ayala finished off the day with a 16th-place finish in the 3,000-meter steeplechase (10:18.25), and the men's 4x400 squad of Roberson, Wagner, Ferguson and Isaiah Armstrong set a PR with a time of 3:18.93. They took 17th.
On the women's side, the 4x400 relay team (Wilborn, Davis, Schupman, Brown) put together their second-best time of the season (4:10.51)-good enough for 13th place.