Tanner Williams: Open to New Heights

For Tanner Williams, his time at Oklahoma has been an experience of opening up and soaring high, literally. To find the Ardmore, Okla., native these days, you have to look up as he is busy flying more than 17 feet into the air and doing so with ease. It took a while for the senior pole vaulter to spread his wings as he struggled in competition overwhelmed by a personal battle. However, as he opened up about his LGBTQ identity, his competitive efforts flourished. Currently ranked 31st nationally in the NCAA, Williams is celebrating who he is as he leads OU's track and field teams in their most successful season since 2013 as one of 10 captains. Williams took some time from the pole vault pit to share his story about his support from the OU community, his feelings as he competes at his final John Jacobs home meet and his secret talent as a pianist.

On competing in his final John Jacobs Invitational:

"This is my last home meet and the previous meets I haven't done very well at all. I'm pretty sure the last two years I've 'no-heighted,' but this year I'm having a really good year. t's going to be exciting to be able to jump in front of a home audience. The fact that there's going to be good weather makes me nervous. Now I have to prove myself. I've done very well in jumping consistently high this year. More than anything, I'm actually a little bit nervous to finish it out. In the last home meet, I have to prove myself and place on OU's top-10 list, at least."

On competing under two different coaching staffs while at OU:

"[My experience with the team] has been completely different [since we got new coaches]. My freshman year, you had to earn your spikes. You had to score at Big 12 in order to get your spikes. Our coaches now also care about us, but they just give them to us. They make sure we have the best opportunities and best resources that we can to be excellent athletes at OU. Coach V (Jim VanHootegem) really takes care of his athletes and he's a well-rounded coach. It's a fun team. It's night and day from freshman year when it was like fighting tooth and nail. "

On his athletics platform and how it helped to advocate for the LGBTQ community:

"People look up to you and you feel like you're on top of the world compared to everybody else. Last year one of the Warner brothers came to Norman and he said 'We're (athletes) the Wizards and everyone else are the Muggles.' I loved that little saying from Harry Potter. The experience of me coming out personally, I can't even put into words what it feels like. It's almost like a thousand tons were taken off my shoulders [when I was] able to express who I actually am and show people it's ok to be out. The support I got from the coaches and my teammates has been overwhelming. I'm glad that I can actually make a difference for the LGBTQ community. [Before I came out] I'd gone five meets in a row where I did not clear a bar. I was running through (the pit) and I wasn't even planting the pole. Then all of a sudden, after I came out in April and went to the Big 12 in May, bam there's a six-inch PR - 17 feet and fifth place at Big 12. I was riding on a cloud for a long time. Mainly, what my goal is now is to help people get through the toughness."

On interests outside of track and field:

"I feel like I'm a California kid at heart, but I am a born-and-raised Oklahoman. The lake is basically my home - I grew up on a lake. On the Fourth of July, I'd spend hours at the lake. One of the craziest memories at the lake was when some tourists came and rented a jet boat and ended up sinking the jet boat. We spent hours and hours, well into the night, just pulling the jet boat out of the water. We had to clean the engine. In addition to that, I like to ride my bike and like to be outside - that's my thing. I'm just a really chill person. It helps with pole vault because you have to be relaxed. Also, I'm a pianist and love to play the piano. I learned how to play Celine Dion's My Heart Will Go On from the movie, Titanic. That was before I learned how to read music, I learned it by sound. After that, I played it for my family and they put me into lessons. I started playing more advanced music like Clarin by Claude Debussy -- it's the song from Twilight. Also I played all of the music from Forrest Gump. I eventually stoppedwhen I started pole vaulting because it (vaulting) was more important to me."

On how he began pole vaulting:

"My coach forced me into it in sixth grade. Honestly, I hated it the first couple of years and wanted to quit. Something just kept pulling me back into it. It's like golfing - you hate golfing when you can't hit a golf ball straight down the middle. When you do hit one down the fairway, it keeps you around. That's what happened to me with pole vault. I went to AAU nationals in Michigan in high school and ended up winning it. That's what kept me in it."

Extras:

On Netflix: House of Cards, Grey's Anatomy, Once Upon a Time
On Ipod: Reggae
Family Fact: Grandfather, Jack Hill, was a quarterback for OU, but transferred after an injury.

On competing in his final John Jacobs Invitational:

On competing under two different coaching staffs while at OU:

On his athletics platform and how it helped to advocate for the LGBTQ community:

On interests outside of track and field:

On how he began pole vaulting:

Extras:

Players Mentioned

Tanner Williams

Sponsors

University of Oklahoma Athletics