Florida State/Flagler Palm Coast grad is on her way to USATF Champs in February.
Photo by Vic Sailer, PhotoRun.net
There are many athletes who graduate from college and are left with the feeling that they didn't accomplish everything they wanted to during their collegiate careers. Most move on with their lives, content to hold on to those memories and to make their mark in their chosen profession.
But a few just can't shake the feeling that they could have accomplished more – that if given the time and circumstances – they can do some great things.
Alycia Williams is one such athlete.
The April 2007 graduate of Florida State University made a visit to the New Balance Armory on Saturday January 19 to compete in the Elite Women's 400 at the New Balance Games. That 400 meters was a drop in the bucket compared to her travels in prep track and college.
Currently training and running with Philadelphia United Stars coach Ken Abney, Williams has, in a way, returned to her roots. "I ran with the United Stars from the when I was 11-12 through 15-16." Her late high school career was spent at Flagler Palm Coast HS in Bunnell, Florida.
After graduating from high school in 2002, Alycia and her twin Alyce headed off to George Mason University to compete in the Colonial Athletic Association. The program was in a rebuilding stage at the time according to Alycia, and her sister was the first to leave – heading south to Florida State before the start of their junior years. Alycia followed after the first semester. Alyce competed mainly in the short sprints and long and triple jumps. Alycia – who had even run cross country to build strength for indoor while in high school ("never again," she stated emphatically) – was a 400 runner who had some success in the jumps.
With a more competitive atmosphere and tougher training, Alycia began to improve during her final year-and-a-half at Florida State. She scored in the ACC meet her final semester, and then earned an all-American certificate as the anchor of the 7th place 4x400 team at the 2007 Division I NCAA Championships. She also had qualified for NC's in the 400, but did not advance to the finals. Last March, she PRed in the 400 in 52.74.
Since graduation, she has trained in Philadelphia. And the workouts, Williams says, are exactly what she needs to begin to realize what she sees as her potential. Throughout her collegiate career, Williams says, she "didn't really get the good workouts" she is getting now. "I'm really seeing the results from it."
Coming into the race, she fought off doubts abut her progress in training, but was assured that as long as she was getting "a little but further each week," that should would be fine.
Having mostly run on the rubber track at New York's Pratt Institute and at Seton Hall, Williams was anxious to step onto the fast banked track of the Armory. "I just had to come in here and run my own race."
"Digging down deep" over the final 100 meters, Williams came away with the win, an indoor PR, and the fastest 400 meter time in the US so far this indoor season. "I'm just glad to run fairly fast this early."
The time qualifiers her for her first USATF Championships, which she will run the last weekend of February in Boston.
"It's my first," she said. "So I'm really excited."