• Career Notes

We Won’t See The Likes Of Her Again.........

The 100-meter dash is the glamour event of track and field and the standard by which human speed is measured. To win one of these championships at the NCAA level is itself a remarkable feat. To do so twice requires amazing skill and mental toughness. Winning three times when the gun goes off is very rare--in the history of the NCAA Division I track and field championships, there have been only four athletes, male or female, who have won three 100-meter dash titles. They are Ralph Metcalfe of Marquette (1932-34), Mel Patton of USC (1947-49) and Charlie Greene of Nebraska (1965-67).

Only one athlete in NCAA history at any level has ever won four 100-meter dash titles.

That athlete's name is Angela Williams

In doing so, Williams has surpassed the collegiate feats of such track greats as Merlene Ottey, Florence Griffith, Gwen Torrance, Inger Miller and Gail Devers.

And in the process, she has achieved sports immortality.

“I want you to be the one to break my records.” -- Florence Griffith-Joyner, to Williams in 1992.

Angela Williams celebrates after winning the 100 meters at the NCAA outdoor track and field championships, Saturday, June 1, 2002

Angela’s Season

Sun Angel Invitational (April 13)
She opened her season by winning the 100m in 11.38

Mt. Sac Relays (April 21)
She ran 11.06--currently third in the world--to win the 100m at Mt. Sac

USC-UCLA Dual Meet, Drake Stadium, Westwood (May 4)
She cruised to easy wins in both the 100m and 200m against the Bruins

Pac-10 Championships, Pullman, Wash. (May 18-19)
She won the 100m and ran a legal PR to take third in the 200m at the Pac-10s

NCAA Championships, Baton Rouge, LA (May 29-June 1)
On June 1, she won the her fourth NCAA 100m championship in 11.29.

Latest News: On June 17, Angela was given the Honda-Broderick Award as the nation's top female college athlete for 2001-2002.

"She is the most successful sprinter in NCAA history. That's saying an awful lot. She's taken on different challenges each year and she's gotten it done four years in a row when it counted. And that is very, very rare in the world of sports."--USC Coach Ron Allice.

Before 2002:

Angela Williams wins the 100 meters with a time of 11.29 seconds during the NCAA outdoor track and field championships in Baton Rouge, La., Saturday, June 1, 2002

2001: Junior Angela Williams won her third Division I NCAA 100-meter title, the first female athlete ever to accomplish that feat ... The last man to do so was Charley Green of Nebraska in 1965-67 ... Williams is the USC (11.04) and American prep (11.11) record holder in the 100m... Her credentials as one of the rising young stars of track were solidified on March 11 when she won the silver medal in the 60m dash at the World Indoor Championships in Lisbon, Portugal ... Williams' time of 7.09 shattered the American collegiate record of 7.14 set by Carlette Guidry of Texas in 1991 and was the fourth fastest time in the world and fastest by an American in 2001.

2000: The incomparable Williams raced to her second straight NCAA title in 2000, winning easily in 11.12 ... She became the first Pac-10 woman and fourth in NCAA history to win consecutive 100m titles ... She also joined Patty Van Wolvelaere and Yvette Bates as the only Trojan woman to win two NCAA titles ... Ran the opening leg on USC's school-record 400m relay that won the NCAA title (at the time, the fourth-fastest in the world) ... Won the 100m (season-best 11.01w) and 200m (PR 22.78w) at the Pac-10s, joining UCLA's Gail Devers and USC's Inger Miller and Torri Edwards as the only women to win both those events at the same Pac-10 meet.

1999: Won the NCAA 100m championship as a freshman with a time of 11.04, a USC school record (the previous mark was set earlier in the semifinals by USC senior Torri Edwards, who clocked a 11.10) ... Williams was USC's ninth individual track and field national champion and first since 1990 when Ashley Selman took the javelin title ... Williams' time also broke a 23-year old national junior record (11.08) set by Brenda Morehead of Tennessee State and moved her into ninth place on the all-time collegiate list (past Florence Griffith of UCLA - 11.06 - Aug. 26, 1983) ... She also ran the opening leg on USC's 400m relay squad that finished second in the NCAAs in 43.35 ... Ran a 11.27 to win the 100m at the USA Track & Field Junior Nationals ... Finished third in the 100m at the USA Outdoor Track and Field Champiionships with a wind-assisted time of 11.03 ... Ran 11.19 to win the 100m at the World University games ... Finished second at the Pac-10s with a time of 11.38 ... Ran a 10.96 (wind-assisted) at the UNLV Invitational.

HIGH SCHOOL: At Chino (Calif.) High, Angela established herself as the nation's fastest female high school track athlete in history with a blistering 11.11 in the 100m at the 1998 National Junior Championships in Edwardsville, Ill. (breaking the 22-year-old mark of 11.13 set by Chandra Cheeseborough in 1976) ... Clocked a 10.98w as a junior (the first high school girl to break the 11-second barrier under any conditions) ... Earned the Track & Field News High School Women.s Athlete of the Year award in 1997 and 1998, when she become only the second woman to do so unanimously (Marion Jones is the other unanimous pick) ... Won the 100m at the 1995 Junior Nationals in 11.24 ... Won the 100m and 200m title at the 1998 CIF Southern Section Masters Meet and also finished third in the long jump ... Won the 100m title at the 1997 Pan-Am Junior Championships, where she also teamed with current Women of Troy teammate Kinshasa Davis and two others for a 44.02 victory in the 400m relay ... Competed at the 1996 Olympic Trials during her sophomore year, but was forced to pull out due to a hamstring pull in the first round ... Carried a 3.9 GPA in high school and was considered one of the state's top 100 scholars.

PERSONAL: Angela was born on Jan. 30, 1980 ... She is a public policy and management major at USC ... Her full name is Angela Tramaine Williams.

CAREER BESTS: 100m - 11.04 (10.96w), 200m - 23.04 (22.78w).

"I believe Angela is one of those people who can bring track and field alive again."-- Al Joyner, triple jump champion.