When Amber Williams' high school track coach told her to try hurdles one day in practice, her reaction wasn't exactly positive.
"'No, because I don't want to fall on my face,'" Williams said, recalling her response. "You always have that initial fear at first. It was not my idea, it was my coach's, but I've always been the type to just go with the flow, so I'm like, 'OK, maybe I'll give this a try, you know, do it for the team.'"
Four years later, Williams has developed into one of the premier hurdlers in the country.
The Ball State University senior ranks first in school history in both the 60-meter and 100-meter hurdles. Last year, Williams was named Most Valuable Performer at both the indoor and outdoor Mid-American Conference Championships on her way to All-American honors. This year Williams has decided to redshirt her senior season to train for the 2008 Olympic Trials in pursuit of a track and field athlete's dream: qualifying for the summer Olympic Games.
CHOOSING HURDLES
For Williams, however, qualifying for the summer Olympic Games wasn't always a dream, nor was track even her favorite sport.
"I actually just kind of fell into it, just because when I was in high school, basketball was more of my first love," Williams said. "But I had teammates and friends who also did track and field. It was something I had done in middle school to just kind of keep me in shape but I was more trying to stay in shape for basketball."
Williams soon decided to drop basketball to focus on track and see where it could take her. She spent her first three years at Fort Wayne Concordia as a self-proclaimed "decent" sprinter before her head coach, Brad Peterson, decided to try her out in the hurdles. Peterson attributes Williams' quick progress in the hurdles to her work ethic and determination to make herself better.
"She's very persistent and a perfectionist," Peterson said. "I remember Saturdays were days when she'd come in at 12 and we'd practice for three hours. She wouldn't want to leave.
"I told her if she keeps working, she could go to the Olympics. I was thinking in 2012, but she's four years ahead of me, and that's a tribute to her and the Ball State coaches."
However, Williams' path to collegiate athletics didn't come without challenges. Her true grit was tested one afternoon at a Lawrence Central meet in Indianapolis, Concordia's biggest meet before the conference meet.
"She was winning the 100-meter hurdles and fell with two hurdles left," Peterson said. "Then the same thing happened in the 300-meter hurdles, she fell with two hurdles to go. And these were against some of the top hurdlers in the state, so she was about to shock some people. To fall twice in one meet after just starting hurdles - I thought she'd never hurdle again."
Lucky for her, and for the Ball State track and field program, she did.
CHOOSING BALL STATE
The Cardinals came calling after Williams bounced back in the Summit Athletic Conference meet at Fort Wayne Northrop. She not only won all three of her events - 100-meter hurdles, 300-meter hurdles and 200-meter dash - she also set meet records in each.
Upon her visit to Ball State, Williams found a coach, a campus and a core group of teammates that made for a perfect fit.
"The coach who had recruited me at the time, I just really like him, and when I came down and met some of the girls, I really liked them and I felt like we had the same kind of personalities and everything," Williams said. "Just when I met everyone I just felt right. There were other schools but there was just something about Ball State that just really attracted me and I think that's just why I ended up here. It's a good place to be - not too big of a campus, not too small, pretty close to home for me. I just felt like it was a perfect fit."
Williams fit right in and has enjoyed a record-breaking career at Ball State. This was capped by a junior year in which she rewrote Ball State record books in the 60-meter hurdles, 8.19 seconds, at the Indoor MAC Championships and 100-meter hurdles, 13.18 seconds, at the Outdoor NCAA Championships. For her accomplishments, Williams was named an All-American, which played a large role in the decision to train for the Olympic Trials.
CHOOSING TO REDSHIRT
After meeting with Ball State coaches to discuss her future, Williams came to a conclusion.
"It was just kind of a thing where it was just like 'OK, Amber, do you want to give this a shot?'" Williams said. "'Do you want to see where you could take this once you leave Ball State?' and considering that I would still be here at Ball State for a fifth year anyhow finishing up my schooling, it was just like, 'OK, this would be a good chance for you to see if you can take this to the next level.'"
Head coach Randy Heisler said he knew this decision meant sacrificing a season with the team if Williams was to take on the appropriate training schedule.
"So then you ask yourself the question, 'If you have an athlete that's in that situation where they have a chance of qualifying, have a chance of competing at the Olympic Trials, how do you go about preparing them to do that?'" Heisler said. "Because realistically, it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. And in Amber's case, our collegiate scheduling is not conducive for running your fastest meet healthy and ready to go in late June."
Williams said her new training schedule is harder than her old one, but she likes being able to rest and choose her competitions. Her most notable performance was at the USA Track and Field Indoor Championships in February, in which Williams ran a personal-best 8.16 seconds in the 60-meter hurdles and placed fourth among several of the nation's top hurdlers. Williams said she considers this her greatest accomplishment.
"To be noticed as an All-American and everything probably sounds much better than getting fourth at a track meet," Williams said. "But it meant a lot for me to go out there and make it to the finals and hold my own, so I feel like that was big just because it's a stepping stone hopefully towards the future for me."
Perhaps more difficult than her new training routine, Williams said, is not being able to participate with the team in competitions. While she is still able to practice and interact with her teammates, Williams said, she misses donning the cardinal and white before each meet.
"It really is hard to go to meets and not have on that Ball State uniform and to not run with them," Williams said. "Even though I'm their teammate, I'm still not technically a part of the team right now so it's a little heartbreaking to a degree. But I know what I'm trying to do and they understand also."
One of these understanding teammates is sophomore Katie Johnson, also a sprinter and hurdler. Johnson said Williams is always willing to help and encourage the other athletes.
"Amber is a very humble person," Johnson said. "She doesn't mind teaching even though she knows she's very good."
Heisler, too, said he has noticed the determination that Peterson first saw in Williams at Concordia.
"She's able to focus when she comes to practice, no matter what's going on in her life," Heisler said. "She's able to come and give a couple hours that's really dedicated. There's a work ethic, there's a goal-oriented approach to what she does."
CHOOSING A MINDSET
When Williams travels to Eugene, Ore., the last week of June for the 2008 Olympic Trials, she will be performing on the biggest stage of her life. To qualify for the Olympic Games in Beijing, she will have to make it through four rounds of elimination. She said her first goal is to make it to the finals and break 13 seconds.
However, Williams is no stranger to the big stage. From state meets in high school to NCAA Championships in college, Williams has experience in pressure situations, which she said will help keep her calm.
"I'm just used to having those big names who are already established and everything now, I'm used to having all of them running in lanes next to me and things like that," Williams said. "That was always the hardest when I first went to indoor nationals. That was the hardest part for me because I had just so much adrenaline and everything. But now that I've been to a few and I've gotten used to it now, the nerves aspect is completely gone."
As for finding the proper mindset for the meet, Williams is already mentally preparing herself.
"The thing I have to think about is, 'Don't think,'" Williams said. "If it hasn't came to me by then, it's too late. That's how I feel. I'm preparing for that, so by the time I get there, everything I've learned up to that point, if it's not there, it's just not there."
Williams will also have the support of a fan base at the trials. In addition to her parents, Williams' Ball State coaches will also want to be there, she said. And Peterson, now head coach of track and cross country at Indiana Tech, will be there supporting two athletes: Williams and her friend and fellow Concordia graduate, Alissa McKaig. McKaig is a junior at Indiana Tech attempting to qualify in the 10,000-meter run.
Peterson's presence at the meet means a lot to Williams, who said he has always been an important and inspiring figure in her life.
"He really pushed me and he really wanted me to be better just by things he did and things he said," Williams said. "He really made me want to step up my game and I think I owe a lot to him. I still talk to him now to this day and tell him, 'You know what? I always appreciated you for helping me find my niche.'"
Peterson also has nothing but praise for Williams.
"At this point, whenever I talk to her, it's how proud I am of her," Peterson said.
CHOOSING A FUTURE
Although Williams is majoring in psychology, she said she still wants to pursue a career in track.
"I just love competition, I love the rush and everything that it gives me, and I definitely want to continue," Williams said. "And hopefully not just continue, but be one of the top at what I do also."
If not professional track, Williams said she might combine her degree with track or end up coaching high school track.
First, however, Williams has a college career to finish. Williams will be back in a Ball State uniform next year as a fifth-year senior, and with the team's returning athletes and incoming recruits, Williams said she expects the Cardinals to be "crazy good."
Johnson agrees and said she's looking forward to the hurdle events.
"Next year we'll go 1-2-3 in the MAC," Johnson said of Williams, RaJae Marable and herself. "I think we can get there as a team."
While Heisler is also looking forward to Williams' return, he said, her trip to the Olympic Trials will draw attention to Ball State's track and field program and the community.
"From a recruiting standpoint, it's invaluable," Heisler said. "For us to say, 'Last year we had Olympian Amber Williams on our team,' I can't even state the benefits of that when recruiting."
It also, as Williams points out, would help to put Ball State on the map.
"It's been a lot of times, I know, people have actually came up to me and been like, 'Where's Ball State? I have no idea where that is,'" Williams said. "And the thing is, I think I actually enjoy answering that question just because it's like, 'Yeah, you didn't know where we were but you want to know now.' And I just feel like for Ball State, for the program, and the community, I hope to be an inspiration just to say, 'Hey, you know, it won't matter where you go as long as you work hard and you have the work ethic, you can do whatever you want and be whatever you want. It really doesn't matter; it's not about where you are, it's about what you do and what you put into it.'"
Times2007-2008 Dave Rankin Invitational100-meter hurdles, 1st place (13.82 seconds) USA Track and Field Indoor Championships60-meter hurdles, 4th place (8.16 seconds - school record) Meyo Invitational60-meter hurdles, 2nd place (8.23 seconds)
2006-2007 NCAA Championships100-meter hurdles, Did not qualify for finals (13.18 seconds - school record) NCAA Regional Championships100-meter hurdles, 5th place (13.19 seconds) Indoor MAC Championships60-meter hurdles, 1st place (8.19 seconds)
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