Stanford’s Harrison Williams was named Athlete of the Week by USA Track and Field after his record-setting decathlon performance at the Pan Am Junior Championships last week.
Representing the United States, Williams needed at least 4:32.00 in the final event, the 1,500 meters, to break the record, and he got it by running a personal-record 4:29.20 on Saturday in Edmonton to win the gold medal and set a meet record.
Williams, a rising sophomore, scored 8,037 points to break the American junior record of 8,018, set by Gunnar Nixon in 2012.
Williams completed a freshman season in which he twice broke the Stanford record, repeated as U.S. junior champion, earned first-team All-America honors with a fourth-place NCAA finish, and was Pac-12 runner-up. The score also exceeded his previous junior (19 and under) best of 8,001 set at the U.S. Championships.
Williams won six events over the two-day, 10-event competition to earn a commanding lead from the start. He beat runner-up Travis Toliver of the U.S. by 691 points. Williams set or tied three personal bests.
Representing the United States, Williams needed at least 4:32.00 in the final event, the 1,500 meters, to break the record, and he got it by running a personal-record 4:29.20 on Saturday in Edmonton to win the gold medal and set a meet record.
Williams, a rising sophomore, scored 8,037 points to break the American junior record of 8,018, set by Gunnar Nixon in 2012.
Williams completed a freshman season in which he twice broke the Stanford record, repeated as U.S. junior champion, earned first-team All-America honors with a fourth-place NCAA finish, and was Pac-12 runner-up. The score also exceeded his previous junior (19 and under) best of 8,001 set at the U.S. Championships.
Williams won six events over the two-day, 10-event competition to earn a commanding lead from the start. He beat runner-up Travis Toliver of the U.S. by 691 points. Williams set or tied three personal bests.
