Williams Headed to U.S. Championships

Feb. 5, 2009

NORMAN, Okla. -- Oklahoma freshman Kevin Williams will travel to Derwood, Md., this weekend for the 2009 U.S. Cross Country Championships in an attempt to qualify for the 2009 IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Jordan. The first-year Sooner will run Saturday morning in the men's junior division that will cover an 8,000-meter course across the grounds of the Agricultural History Farm Park. With a top-six finish at the meet, Williams will qualify as a member of the U.S. team at the World Championships on March 28, 2009.

For Williams a trip to Jordan would not mark his first time representing the United States in the World Championships, having done so in 2008. Last year's event in Edinburgh, Scotland, saw Williams cross the finish line as the third-best American finisher. Williams qualified for the event by finishing fifth in the 2008 U.S. Cross Country Championships with a time of 24:39.

Williams has not yet officially competed for OU, having redshirted the 2008 cross country season and has yet to compete as a Sooner in the 2009 track and field season. The Denver, Colo., native recently competed unattached at the Razorback Invitational where he finished first in the championship 3,000-meter run with a time of 8:16.89.

The seven-time Colorado state titlest closed out his high school career by being named a Track & Field News All-American and the 2007-08 Gatorade Colorado Cross Country Runner of the Year.

Highlights of the 2009 USA Cross Country Championships will be televised on February 15 during ESPN coverage of the Tyson Invitational.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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