Sports
Olicia Williams Powers St. Anthony's Girls Track
Williams wins three events to help Friars girls track team dominate Nassau-Suffolk CHSAA meet.
Olicia Williams threw up after her first race. She collapsed to the ground after the second, needing ice packs arranged like sandbags over her body to alleviate the tightness in her muscles.
Despite the hardship, Williams gathered herself for a third event Saturday at the Nassau-Suffolk CHSAA track and field championships in South Huntington. The junior won all three.
“I was like done,” Williams said of the fatigue that set in after her first race. “But I did feel better after I threw up.”
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First Williams -- running on her home track -- won the 800 meters in 2 minutes, 12.91 seconds. Then she came back to take the 400 in 55.85.
But she wasn’t done. Far from it. Williams ran the third leg of the wining 4 x 400 relay (featuring Williams, Shannon Murphy, Emily Taussig and Megan Fiedler) in 3:55.84.
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It’s been a bounce back season for Williams, who set the bar high as a freshman by winning the 800. She could not repeat as a sophomore but regained her form this spring. Saturday’s effort was a microcosm of her young career – success met by adversity followed by a gut check.
“Sophomore year I did not take seriously at all,” Williams said. “Then I got a reality check.”
No one can doubt her commitment now. Williams shared track MVP honors with St. John the Baptist senior Victoria Lundin, who won the 100 (12.32 seconds) and the 200 (24.83).
St. Anthony’s dominated the Nassau-Suffolk CHSAA Large Schools team championships. The girls ran away from the pack with 110 points. Kellenberg was second (78), St. John the Baptist third (74) and Holy Trinity a distant fourth (19). .
Junior Sloane Russ took the 2,000 steeplechase in 7:27.50. Senior Katie Gallagher won the high jump (5-3) and the long jump (17-1.5).
The Friars swept the girls relays, winning the 4 x 100 (Taussig, Chynna-Monica Chung, Katheryn Mazzucca and Murphy) in 48.48, the 4 x 400 and the 4 x 800 (Alexandra Russo, Danielle Cornell, Russ and Lauren Fontana) in 9:44.81.
Up next is the CHSAA Intersectional championship next Saturday at Icahn Stadium on Randall’s Island. The top finishers advance to the state Federation meet.
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