University of Georgia Athletics
Williams 'Succeeded In Every Way'
December 15, 2017 | Track & Field, The Frierson Files
By John Frierson
UGAAA Staff Writer
As she walked away down Rutherford Street late Wednesday afternoon, the fading sunlight hitting her U.S. Olympic Team Nike backpack, Kendell Williams moved toward her future. One of the greatest Georgia Bulldogs ever, the track and field superstar's time in Athens was done, minus some Thursday-Friday graduation fun.
And what a time it's been.
"I'm getting ready to leave and I don't know where the four-and-a-half years went," she said Wednesday, shortly after the Advertising major took her final exam. "I mean, it was such a fun four-and-a-half years."
Fun for her, as she kept winning championships and making her dreams come true. And fun for those of us that got to watch her keep winning and improving and succeeding.
"We're eternally grateful to her for all she's done," Georgia track and field coach Petros Kyprianou said Thursday. "She's definitely left a legacy here that will never be forgotten."
Let's quickly examine some of what she's done while wearing a Georgia uniform: she's the first track and field athlete to ever win four straight NCAA titles in an event, which she did by winning the indoor pentathlon all four years (she also set the collegiate scoring record in the event three times); Williams also won the NCAA outdoor heptathlon title three times, her only loss coming as a sophomore when she placed second while competing with a bad ankle; at the 2017 U.S. Track & Field Championships in June, Williams won the heptathlon for her biggest title so far.
Internationally, wearing Team USA gear, she won the 2014 World junior title in the 100-meter hurdles; she placed sixth in the pentathlon at the 2016 World Indoor Championships; she competed in the 2016 Olympics in Rio (placing 17th) and at this summer's World Outdoor Championships she placed 12th despite suffering a sprained ankle shortly before the event began.
"I knew coming here that I would have a lot of success with Petros, I just didn't know what level," Williams said. "I was like, I'm going to get better working with Petros, but I don't know where that limit is."
In truth, they never found the limit.
Kyprianou isn't just the Bulldogs' head coach, he's a world class trainer of combined-events athletes like Williams, her brother Devon (they both won NCAA indoor titles earlier this year and made the World Outdoor Championships team) and many more. Few know Williams better, few can fully appreciate all she's accomplished more than he.
"Kendell's extremely special, there's no question about it, but I did anticipate greatness from her. ... We talked, we analyzed things and it was one of the best coach-athlete relationships I've ever had," he said. "It was productive on both ends, because she made me a better coach and I think I made her a better athlete."
Along with all her excellence on the track, Williams during her time at Georgia served as a student-athlete representative on the UGA Athletic Board and participated in the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (S.A.A.C.) and Student-Athlete Leadership Academy (L.E.A.D.).
Before sitting down with Williams at Butts-Mehre Heritage Hall on Wednesday, I thought back to a moment nearly two years ago. When Georgia held the groundbreaking ceremony for the Indoor Athletic Facility back in February 2016, it was Williams — she of the warm personality, big smile and many accomplishments — who got behind the podium and spoke on behalf of the athletes.
Before Williams made her short speech, she was given a glowing introduction by UGA President Jere W. Morehead. He ended his intro with words that were perfect nearly two years ago and are even more perfect now, with her Bulldog career and undergraduate studies complete. Morehead said Williams "has succeeded in every way possible."
And he said that before she won the last four of her seven NCAA titles, competed in Rio and did so much more.
"Never in a million years would I have thought that the president of a university would say that about me and welcome me on the stage," Williams told me that day.
Morehead was right then and he's still right. Williams did succeed at Georgia in every way possible, and she got to do it under special circumstances, with her older brother right there with her. Devon, a standout combined-event athlete just like his sister, was a three-time All-American and won the 2017 NCAA indoor heptathlon title, making Kendell and Devon the first siblings to ever sweep multi-event titles at an NCAA meet.
That moment, the "Sibling Sweep" as it became known, is Williams' most special memory from her Georgia career, she said.
"Just the fact that my brother and I both won and our parents were there sitting in the stands, that was awesome," she said, smiling at the memory.
Williams' 4,686 in the pentathlon, set at last February's SEC Indoor Championships, is the top mark by a U.S. woman this year, just as her 4,703 was the top score in 2016. Her winning score of 6,564 in the heptathlon at the U.S. Outdoor Championships is also the best by an American this year. She's also the first woman to win the NCAA and U.S. titles in the same year.
Based on all that, you can make a pretty strong case that in 2017 Kendell Williams, the Honda Award winner for track and field, was the best female athlete in the U.S. That has a pretty good ring to it, but if you know Williams you know she wants more. Kyprianou does, too.
"She will score 7,000 points [in the heptathlon], I have no doubt in my mind," Kyprianou said with confidence.
Hitting 7,000 is THE big, round number in the women's heptathlon. In 2017, only one heptathlete surpassed 7,000. The world record in the heptathlon is 7,291, held by the legendary American Jackie Joyner-Kersee. The world record in the pentathlon is 5,013.
As Williams sets her sights on a professional career, she'll do so far from Athens and the Georgia native's home state.
"I'm excited for the next phase, but I'm also terrified because I'm comfortable here and I like the people and the community," she said.
She and her brother are off to California, to train at the Elite Athletic Training Center (formerly called the Olympic Training Center) in Chula Vista, near San Diego. After so many successful years with Kyprianou, Williams will have a new coach, Kris Mack.
Making the move was not an easy decision.
"I still kind of feel like, oh my God, like I'm a bird that's leaving the nest. I'm also excited; I'm kind of ready for the change," she said. "But it was hard, because Petros and I did have a lot of success together, and I've been in Georgia all my life and this is where I'm comfortable.
"Now I'm kind of ready for adventure and if there's ever a time to do it, this year is it."
After the 2016 Olympics and 2017 World Outdoor Championships, 2018 will be a bit of a "dead year," Williams said, with the only major international event being the World Indoors in March. That gives her time to adjust to her new setting, her new coach and training regimen, before gearing up for the big push toward the 2019 World Outdoors and the 2020 Olympics.
Williams won't be headed west after Christmas with her trophies or national championship rings. None of that stuff was even with her in Athens. Instead it was back home in Kennesaw with her parents — a couple of the rings, she said, were actually sized so that her father can wear them.
While very proud of what she's accomplished so far, she said she doesn't like having that stuff around. Williams prefers to look ahead to what's next, and what's next is "just keep setting the goals higher and higher and hopefully keep getting closer to the podium" at a World Championships or Olympics.
Because of the past four-plus years in Athens, "a crazy ride," she said, one of the best, most accomplished Bulldogs ever is well on her way.
UGAAA Staff Writer
As she walked away down Rutherford Street late Wednesday afternoon, the fading sunlight hitting her U.S. Olympic Team Nike backpack, Kendell Williams moved toward her future. One of the greatest Georgia Bulldogs ever, the track and field superstar's time in Athens was done, minus some Thursday-Friday graduation fun.
And what a time it's been.
"I'm getting ready to leave and I don't know where the four-and-a-half years went," she said Wednesday, shortly after the Advertising major took her final exam. "I mean, it was such a fun four-and-a-half years."
Fun for her, as she kept winning championships and making her dreams come true. And fun for those of us that got to watch her keep winning and improving and succeeding.
"We're eternally grateful to her for all she's done," Georgia track and field coach Petros Kyprianou said Thursday. "She's definitely left a legacy here that will never be forgotten."
Let's quickly examine some of what she's done while wearing a Georgia uniform: she's the first track and field athlete to ever win four straight NCAA titles in an event, which she did by winning the indoor pentathlon all four years (she also set the collegiate scoring record in the event three times); Williams also won the NCAA outdoor heptathlon title three times, her only loss coming as a sophomore when she placed second while competing with a bad ankle; at the 2017 U.S. Track & Field Championships in June, Williams won the heptathlon for her biggest title so far.
Internationally, wearing Team USA gear, she won the 2014 World junior title in the 100-meter hurdles; she placed sixth in the pentathlon at the 2016 World Indoor Championships; she competed in the 2016 Olympics in Rio (placing 17th) and at this summer's World Outdoor Championships she placed 12th despite suffering a sprained ankle shortly before the event began.
"I knew coming here that I would have a lot of success with Petros, I just didn't know what level," Williams said. "I was like, I'm going to get better working with Petros, but I don't know where that limit is."
In truth, they never found the limit.
Kyprianou isn't just the Bulldogs' head coach, he's a world class trainer of combined-events athletes like Williams, her brother Devon (they both won NCAA indoor titles earlier this year and made the World Outdoor Championships team) and many more. Few know Williams better, few can fully appreciate all she's accomplished more than he.
"Kendell's extremely special, there's no question about it, but I did anticipate greatness from her. ... We talked, we analyzed things and it was one of the best coach-athlete relationships I've ever had," he said. "It was productive on both ends, because she made me a better coach and I think I made her a better athlete."
Along with all her excellence on the track, Williams during her time at Georgia served as a student-athlete representative on the UGA Athletic Board and participated in the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (S.A.A.C.) and Student-Athlete Leadership Academy (L.E.A.D.).
Before sitting down with Williams at Butts-Mehre Heritage Hall on Wednesday, I thought back to a moment nearly two years ago. When Georgia held the groundbreaking ceremony for the Indoor Athletic Facility back in February 2016, it was Williams — she of the warm personality, big smile and many accomplishments — who got behind the podium and spoke on behalf of the athletes.
Before Williams made her short speech, she was given a glowing introduction by UGA President Jere W. Morehead. He ended his intro with words that were perfect nearly two years ago and are even more perfect now, with her Bulldog career and undergraduate studies complete. Morehead said Williams "has succeeded in every way possible."
And he said that before she won the last four of her seven NCAA titles, competed in Rio and did so much more.
"Never in a million years would I have thought that the president of a university would say that about me and welcome me on the stage," Williams told me that day.
Morehead was right then and he's still right. Williams did succeed at Georgia in every way possible, and she got to do it under special circumstances, with her older brother right there with her. Devon, a standout combined-event athlete just like his sister, was a three-time All-American and won the 2017 NCAA indoor heptathlon title, making Kendell and Devon the first siblings to ever sweep multi-event titles at an NCAA meet.
That moment, the "Sibling Sweep" as it became known, is Williams' most special memory from her Georgia career, she said.
"Just the fact that my brother and I both won and our parents were there sitting in the stands, that was awesome," she said, smiling at the memory.
Williams' 4,686 in the pentathlon, set at last February's SEC Indoor Championships, is the top mark by a U.S. woman this year, just as her 4,703 was the top score in 2016. Her winning score of 6,564 in the heptathlon at the U.S. Outdoor Championships is also the best by an American this year. She's also the first woman to win the NCAA and U.S. titles in the same year.
Based on all that, you can make a pretty strong case that in 2017 Kendell Williams, the Honda Award winner for track and field, was the best female athlete in the U.S. That has a pretty good ring to it, but if you know Williams you know she wants more. Kyprianou does, too.
"She will score 7,000 points [in the heptathlon], I have no doubt in my mind," Kyprianou said with confidence.
Hitting 7,000 is THE big, round number in the women's heptathlon. In 2017, only one heptathlete surpassed 7,000. The world record in the heptathlon is 7,291, held by the legendary American Jackie Joyner-Kersee. The world record in the pentathlon is 5,013.
As Williams sets her sights on a professional career, she'll do so far from Athens and the Georgia native's home state.
"I'm excited for the next phase, but I'm also terrified because I'm comfortable here and I like the people and the community," she said.
She and her brother are off to California, to train at the Elite Athletic Training Center (formerly called the Olympic Training Center) in Chula Vista, near San Diego. After so many successful years with Kyprianou, Williams will have a new coach, Kris Mack.
Making the move was not an easy decision.
"I still kind of feel like, oh my God, like I'm a bird that's leaving the nest. I'm also excited; I'm kind of ready for the change," she said. "But it was hard, because Petros and I did have a lot of success together, and I've been in Georgia all my life and this is where I'm comfortable.
"Now I'm kind of ready for adventure and if there's ever a time to do it, this year is it."
After the 2016 Olympics and 2017 World Outdoor Championships, 2018 will be a bit of a "dead year," Williams said, with the only major international event being the World Indoors in March. That gives her time to adjust to her new setting, her new coach and training regimen, before gearing up for the big push toward the 2019 World Outdoors and the 2020 Olympics.
Williams won't be headed west after Christmas with her trophies or national championship rings. None of that stuff was even with her in Athens. Instead it was back home in Kennesaw with her parents — a couple of the rings, she said, were actually sized so that her father can wear them.
While very proud of what she's accomplished so far, she said she doesn't like having that stuff around. Williams prefers to look ahead to what's next, and what's next is "just keep setting the goals higher and higher and hopefully keep getting closer to the podium" at a World Championships or Olympics.
Because of the past four-plus years in Athens, "a crazy ride," she said, one of the best, most accomplished Bulldogs ever is well on her way.
John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files. He's also on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.
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