| Sophomore Teddy Williams won UTSA's first-ever NCAA Midwest Regional Championship on Saturday. |
LINCOLN, Neb. ? Sophomore Teddy Williams won UTSA's first-ever Midwest Regional Championship on Saturday when he edged Texas A&M's Richard Adu-Bobie by seven one-thousandths of a second in the 100 meters at Ed Weir Stadium. The Tyler native raced to a time of 10.25, the second-fastest time of his young career, and earned an automatic berth to this year's NCAA Championships.
"What an unbelievable feeling," Williams said following his victory. "To become the first UTSA athlete to win an NCAA Regional Championship is special. It’s a great to come from my freshman year where I didn’t even qualify for nationals to this. I just hope to make our team look better on the national radar instead of just our conference. I owe it all to my teammates and coaches for pushing and believing in me."
Williams, who officially clocked a 10.241, said the key to his victory was an explosive drive out of the blocks, something he lacked in Friday's preliminary round. The 6-foot-3, 190-pounder registered the prelim's third-fastest time when he crossed thetape in 10.38, which was just one one-hundredth of a second behind Adu-Bobie in the afternoon's third heat.
"I was able to get a good drive out of the blocks and that was the key today," he said. "I didn't get the drive I needed yesterday because I was trying too hard. Today, I just relaxed and it was the edge I needed to win. I knew I was in front at the 50 meters mark, but I felt A&M's guy coming on at the end and it was close at the finish line."
Williams entered this weekend's meet with the sixth-fastest mark in thenation (UTSA-record 10.16) and second-best time in the region behind Texas A&M freshman Gerald Phiri, who finished eighth on Saturday (10.76).
"I am so happy for Teddy," sixth-year head coach Aaron Fox said. "Forhim to become the first regional champion in school history is a greatreward for all the time and hard work he has put in this season. Hejust continues to get better each meet. Now it's time for him toprepare himself over the next 10 days to get ready for nationals."
Teammate Steven Brown placed sixth with his time of 10.42 and the senior from Mesquite native missed an automatic berth to the national meet by five one-hundredths of a second. Brown's three points, coupled with Williams' 10 for winning and sophomore Johnathan Whittaker's 1.5 on Friday in the high jump, gave UTSA 14.5 for the meet, which was good for 15th place and all three athletes earned all-region honors.
The NCAA Championships are scheduled for June 11-14 in Des Moines, Iowa.