St. Joe seventh grader tearing up the track

It’s not the kind of word a sportswriter would throw around lightly, especially for a middle school athlete, but “phenom” seems to apply to Port St. Joe seventh grader runner Lorelai Williams.

Under the tutelage of girls cross country and track coach Keion McNair, Williams has already begun shattering high school records and looks to be on track, pun intended, to blaze a memorable high school career for the Lady Tiger Sharks,

At last Saturday’s Class 1A state track meet at Tallahassee’s Apalachee Regional Park, Williams got off to a strong start, and after the first 800 meters, with a time of 2:23.7, was already among the top four runners in the race.

It was a time that was only two seconds off the school’s record for the 800-meter race that is found in the spring outdoor track season.

But, facing one of the state’s toughest courses, with a couple steep hills, McNair was concerned that Williams would have a difficult time keeping up this sort of blazing speed.

“I knew being that fast it would catch up with her later,” he said.

Still, Williams kept up with a bevy of runners, many of them juniors and seniors, and in the end finished with a time of 20:30.9, placing her at 34th, with the best time in the state for all Class 1A seventh graders.

Despite having rebounded from an upper respiratory infection that had cut into valuable practice time over the last few weeks, it was an impressive showing for Williams, who has been on a path towards success ever since about three years ago, when she had arrived in Gulf County from North Carolina. 

A twin to brother Jerome, and the daughter of Alison and Kyle Williams, she had been spotted showing up the boys at an away football game, and this caught the attention of McNair, who’s no stranger to developing many athletes who have gone on to win district, regional and state titles, posted outstanding college careers and taken their best shot at Olympic glory

“I said ‘Let me have her, I’ll take care of her,’” McNair told her parents, and thus began Williams’ fledgling career as a runner.

In cross country, which is a 3.1-mile race, she broke the two-mile record, with a time of 13:09, and is now well past the record. 

McNair plans to have her break the two-mile track record at the outset of the spring season. “We’re going to get the two mile record early and focus on the mile and 800-meters,” he said.

In Williams’ first varsity run on August 31, at the Dolphin Dash Invitational, Williams came in second with a time of 21:28.

At the Blountstown meet Sept. 5, she finished first with a time of 20:56.1 and then at the Port St. Joe home meet Sept. 17, she was again first, this time with a time of 22:46.

And then, on Oct. 5 at the Marlin Mayhem, she posted a season best time of 20:03, and finished second to a senior who would go on to win the Class 2A cross country title.

Most importantly, though, Williams had captured the school record by nearly a minute, a record previously held by Madelyn Gortemoller, who has been busy helping her train all season long. Williams tuned up for the post-season on Oct. 21, finishing first at a home meet with a time of 22:12.2. 

After she was under the weather, McNair made sure Williams paced herself at the Oct. 28 districts, where she ran a 20:25 to finish seventh. “I knew we would advance to regionals and I was getting her ready for it,” he said.

At the Nov. 8 regionals, Williams ran a 20:45.9 to finish 14th and earn a shot at state.

The other members of the team did not perform as well as they hoped at regionals, and so Williams was the only one to advance.

Junior Katie Trochessett ran a 25:46 to finish 66th; sophomore Molly Partin a 25:52.3 to finish 69th; junior Farrah Spring a 28:08.4 to finish 96th; freshman Libby White a 28:30.9 to finish 99th; and seventh grader Eleanor Shoaf a 37:58.2 to finish 114th.

“They had one of their worst days,” said McNair, noting that runner Katie Patrick, who usually posts among the team’s best times, had a knee injury and was unable to finish.

Also advancing to state were a pair of eighth grade boys, Chase Ford and Jude Fosshage, who ran an 18.07.8 and 18.32, respectively at the state meet, to finish 103rd and 108th.

Franklin County senior Josiah Friddle also advanced to state, and with a time of 18:24.3, finished 113th. At the regionals, he had finished 31st, with a time of 18:30.7.

At the regionals, Ford had been 35th, with a 18:36, and Fosshage 36th, with a time of 18:41.5.

Tiger Shark sophomore Preston Beckwith had been 84th at regionals, with a 20:58.6 time, and sophomore Dane Fosshage had been 107th, with a 23:46.9 time. Seventh grader Spencer Cribbs was 109th with a 24:02.2 time; seventh grader Jordan Dailey 114th with a time of 26:10.8; and seventh grader Jerome Williams 117th with a 30:27.5.

With cross country behind her, Williams is set to run indoor track, in the upcoming weeks. While not a Florida high school sport, these meets attract some of the Southeast’s most gifted runners, and she’ll be running at the University of Florida and University of Alabama at Birmingham, against girls in her own age group, from as far as Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee.

“She has a bright future,” said McNair. “One of the things you can’t coach is competitiveness, she just has that gift. She’s going to compete, she’s going to give everything she’s got.

McNair said having parents on board is an added plus, and noted that he’s been coaching Williams as a seventh grader, which is a lesser load than the upperclassmen.

“She does half the work and still is running this great,” he said. “She can keep advancing as an athlete. She can move forward at her own pace.”