Foot Locker South's Fastest Floridians: Lily Williams


In her first year running Foot Locker South, Lily Williams of Chiles captured the tenth and final spot to Foot Locker Nationals in San Diego clocking the 14th fastest time ever by a Floridian of 17:32.00. We caught up with Williams to reflect on that race her senior year in 2011 and what she has been up to since. (Photo by Jeff Adams)

Flrunners.com: You and your Chiles teammates competed at NXN SE the first three years of your high school career and then as a senior you finally were able to tackle Foot Locker. Talk about that decision.

Lily Williams: I only ran Footlocker South once because our team went to Nike Regionals for my first three years. My freshman year I was seeded to make it to nationals as an individual and I got a bit too excited in the first mile. To this day that's the only race I have ever fell out in. My sophomore year I had a rough season, but did really well at Nike Regionals. Unfortunately I was the second individual to not make it. My junior year, I was the first individual to not make it. Senior year the team didn't win state so we decided to take a crew to Footlocker South instead of Nike. I got 10th place - I was the last one in. So I moved up one place every single year. It's a hell of a story, and I guess sums up my high school cross country career well if you tie it into my 3 second place finishes at the state meet.

FLR:  What do you remember most about your experience at Foot Locker South?

LW: What I remember most about these races and competing in the post-season was really just how awestruck I was at all of the runners that I had basically stalked on MileSplit, Flotrack, etc. Cross country wasn't my strongest suit, and I was really just so excited to be at Footlocker nationals. Team South was pretty rad, and I have some great memories with those girls, many of whom are still my friends today. It wasn't really until spring of my senior year that I would consider myself to have become an elite athlete. Going to the Dream Mile was pretty much the pinnacle of all of my goals ever for running. But because I knew I had a shot at performing well, I was more focused on the race and making sure that everything went right beforehand. I was definitely more serious and less excited to be making friends. But even now in college, me and my teammates who also participated in post-season races in high school talk about them as some of the best experiences of our lives.

FLR: As someone who has run this race what advice do you have for those competing this weekend?

LW:  For runners competing at the races this weekend: DON'T GO OUT TOO FAST. Run your own race. There are going to be athletes who have the races of their lives, but they probably aren't going to do it by doing something that they've never done before in a race. It is easy to get caught up in the excitement and easy to get into a panic when you go through the first mile in a 5:12, but just stay relaxed and do what you always do. Be a fierce competitor, but be a smart competitor too.

FLR: How did this meet help propel your running career after high school?

LW: I believe that these meets were integral to my success in getting recruited. There were a couple of coaches who did not even know about me until I mentioned that I was at Footlocker. But at the same time, I am very lucky to have also been recruited by some programs that are able to spot talent as it is developing. My coaches at Vanderbilt saw something in me in high school that I didn't realize in myself until after signing day, and I am forever thankful for that. But at the same time, these meets are awesome for getting your name out there as a competitor, even if you aren't an All-American.

FLR: After high school you signed with Vanderbilt where you are in your senior year. How has your college running experience been?

LW: Right now I'm in my senior year at Vanderbilt. I haven't met many of the goals that I had going into college, but if my trajectory in high school serves as a model for my college career, I'm in for a pretty solid track season. What has been much different for me in college is adjusting to distractions and important goals in life outside of running that I didn't have in high school - such as making friends and finding a job. And also being on a really strong team has been something that I am still getting used to. At any moment my spot could be taken by one of my teammates who has had a better week than me, and it has been extremely valuable learning how to handle those types of situations with grace and re-set my goals at any given time. But I do have a redshirt cross country season, so going to a new school with lesser social distractions and four years of experience under my belt could prove to be exciting for cross next fall.


FLR: What is Lily Williams up to these days?

LW: These days I'm manically applying to grad school, running seventy miles a week (well not anymore because we are now on a break), and always doing a thousand different things. Nashville is an amazing city, and I never run out of things to do (pun intended), which is both good and bad because I tend to try to take advantage of every opportunity that presents itself. It has taken me four years to adjust to college and college running, and honestly I still don't think I'm fully there. But I am so thankful for the opportunities that running has provided me, and for my coaches (both in high school and college) for believing in me, sitting through my tears in their offices, and helping me get medical attention when I had bronchitis and pneumonia multiple times. I'm not going to give up running after college, and I'm really interested in getting into competitive cycling, so keep an eye out for a maniac who is riding her bike through traffic one second and baking a cake the next.


More Coverage

Lily Williams Athlete Profile
2015 Foot Locker South Regional Meet Page