| Sophomore Teddy Williams is poised to become the fifth All-American in school history by virtue of his spot in Friday's 100 meters final. |
DES MOINES, Iowa ? Sophomore Teddy Williams inched closer to becoming the fifth All-American in UTSA men's track & field history during Wednesday's opening day of the NCAA Outdoor Championships at Drake Stadium.
Williams won the evening's third 100 meters preliminary heat in 10.57 despite a stiff head wind of 3.7 meters per second. The Tyler native officially clocked a 10.561 and edged national leader Richard Thompson of LSU by just four one-thousandths of a second.
Ninety minutes later, he peeled off a 10.46, which was good for fifth in the night's first semifinal. With only the top three finishers of each heat assured a spot in Friday's final, the 6-foot-3, 190-pounder had to wait to see if his time would hold up for one of the remaining two spots in the field. When Evander Wells of Tennessee finished fourth with a time of 10.50 in the second semifinal, Williams' place in school history was set.
"It wasn't too hot today, but there was a pretty good head wind we hadto run in to in both races," Williams said. "The key today was getting a good drive out of the blocksfor the first 30 to 40 meters so the wind wouldn't push me back. My goal was to stay relaxed, focus onone race at a time and not get caught up in the moment. Today was a bigdifference from the indoor meet because I was able to that. It almostseemed like it was me, my teammates and coaches out at practice todayand I think that made a big difference. Now that making the final isbehind me, it's time to do whatever it takes to become a NationalChampion."
Friday's final is scheduled for 8:45 p.m. and it will be televised live by CBS College Sports.
He now will turn his attention to the 200 meters, the first two rounds of which will take place on Thursday evening. The prelims are scheduled to be run at 5:25 p.m. withthe semifinals set for 6:45 p.m. WilliamsUTSA-record time of 20.60, set in a gold-medal performance at the Southland ConferenceOutdoor Championships, ranks 14th nationally entering competition.
Meanwhile, junior Tommy Wolfe stands in 16th place after day one of the decathlon with 3,613 points. The final five events begin at 10:45 a.m. on Thursday.