Williams signs with Carroll College

A post on the Carroll College Web site says it all: “We got him!”

Last week, Derrick Williams, one of Columbia Falls’ most successful runners, signed with the Helena college to run cross country and track. The decision comes after several months of visiting and meeting with colleges across the West.

Williams, who plans to enroll in Carroll’s pre-med program, said it was the school’s blend of academic and athletic excellence that closed the deal.

“Getting into med school is super difficult,” said Williams, who has a 4.0 grade point average at Columbia Falls High School. “Carroll’s one of the best schools in the state.”

Second-year coach at Carroll, Matt Morris, was also more than happy to sign Williams.

“We’ve recruited Derrick for quite awhile,” Morris said.

Morris said Williams has great range as a runner and will fit well into Carroll’s program. At the state track meet last year, Williams ran the 400, 800, 1,600 and 3,200 meter races and the 4-by-400 relay.

“The fact that he has an amazing range on the track, that’s pretty intriguing,” Morris said. “Not many kids possess those kinds of traits. That’s just rare.”

Williams currently holds the Columbia Falls High School records in cross country with a time of 15:15 and the 1,600 with a time of 4:19.6 — not bad for an athlete who played soccer his freshman year.

But Williams says he still has plenty of work to do in his high school career, which will end in a little more than a month. He said he’d also like to break the school record in the 800 and 3,200 before this track season is over.

“I’m super stoked to chase those this spring,” he said.

Williams said he was impressed with Morris’ coaching acumen.

“He understands the science of running and training,” Williams said.

Pursuing a medical career is also a goal Williams has had for a long time. He said his mother, Mara, was going through some of his papers from fourth grade and one of them was a list of 50 things he wanted to accomplish in his life. One of them was becoming a doctor.

Athleticism runs in Williams’ family. His father, Ray, a native of Jamaica, was a soccer player and coach, and Williams’ brother, Michael, was a basketball player for Columbia Falls.

College competition will prove challenging, Williams admits. A standard cross-country race is 8 kilometers, and the rest time between the cross-country season and the indoor track season is about a week.

“That will be the biggest challenge for me,” he said. “Staying competitive for nine months.”