2013 Meet The Team Mahomet-Seymour Boys Cross Country

James Williams - Senior

James is a forth year high school cross country runner and four year letterman.

Son of John and Carolyn Williams.

2010, 2011, 2012, & 2013 Letterman

2012 State Qualifier - 127th place
2013 State Qualifier - 90th place

2012 & 2013 Captain

250 Mile Club in 2010, 700 Mile Club in 2012,
800 Mile Club in 2013, 1000 York Mile Club in 2013
2011, 2012 & 2013 Sub 30 South Mahomet Loop Club
2012 & 2013 Old Dog Club
2011, 2012, & 2013 Scholar/Athlete
Most Improved over a career #34 with a 3:40 career improvement
2012 Most Improved Runner Award
2013 Fastest Senior Award

2010 Personal Best Time 17:58
2011 Personal Best Time 17:27 (17:00*)
2012 Personal Best Time 16:02 (15:59*)
2013 Personal Best Time 15:44 (15:39*)

Fastest Freshmen Times List for the U-High & Metamora Invitationals
Fastest Sophomore Times List for the Springfield & E Peoria Invitationals
Fastest Junior Times List for the Charleston, Springfield, PND, E Peoria, Metamora Invitationals, & State
Fastest Senior List for the Charleston, Springfield, PND, E Peoria, Metamora Invitationals, Regional, Sectional, & State

2010, 2012, & 2013 Medalist at the Charleston Invitational
2011, 2012, & 2013 Medalist at the Springfield Invitational
2013 Medalist at the East Peoria Invitational
2012 & 2013 Medalist at the Metamora Invitational
2013 Medalist at the Regional Meet

2013 All-Regional - 3rd

Il Elite Status at the 2013 Charleston, Springfield, PND Invitationals, Regional, & Sectional Meet

News-Gazette Athlete of the Week Honorable Mention Oct. 30, 2013

2010 News-Gazette Prep Cross Country Leaders List in October & November
2011 News-Gazette Prep Cross Country Leaders List in September, October, & November
2012 News-Gazette Prep Cross Country Leaders List in September, October, & November
2013 News-Gazette Prep Cross Country Leaders List in September, October, & November

   As a freshman, James comes to our team with jr. high cross country experience under his belt. He earned a medal in his first high school race at the Charleston Invitational by placing 13th with a time of 19:30. He was a member of the freshman meet championship team at the Springfield Invitational freshmen race. James ran a personal best and got into the 18's by running an 18:56 at the Peoria Notre Dame Invitational. James continued to improve as he ran another personal best of 18:12 at the East Peoria Invitational. James earned enough varsity letter points after the East Peoria Invitational that he got his letter. James had a big break through at the U-High Invitational where he broke into the 17's with a 17:58. This earned James a spot on our team's fastest top 10 freshmen at the U-High Invitational. James continued to run well when he got onto our fastest freshman list at the Metamora Invitational. James earned a spot on our team's regional roster during his freshman year. James also earned a spot on the News-Gazette's Prep Cross Country Leaders List in October and November.
   As a sophomore, James opened the season by improving 1:23 from a year earlier at the Charleston Invitational with a time of 18:20. James ran in the top 7 for our team at the invitational. helping to lead our team to a team championship. James helped to lead our team in the open race at the Springfield invitational to a team title. James earned a medal by placing 9th with a lifetime best of 17:56. James earned a spot on the top 10 fastest sophomore list for the Springfield Invitational for having the 3rd highest finish in the open race for our team. James earned high enough grades in the previous year to earn an academic letter for this year. This earned him the honor of scholar/athlete for our team. James earned a letter for the second year in a row for his athletic performance in cross country. James cut another 29 seconds off to run a lifetime best of 17:27 at the Peoria ND Invitational. James ran a 17:00 at the East Peoria Invitational just missing the 16s. He earned himself a spot on the fastest sophomore list at the East Peoria Invitational. James made his way onto the News-Gazette prep cross country leaders in September. James ran 8th for the team at the Metamora Invitational with a 17:06. This time was fast enough to earn him a spot on our fastest sophomore times list at the Metamora Invitational.   He worked his way onto the News-Gazette Prep Cross Country Leaders list for October. James displayed one of the greatest efforts of determination that I have seen. Despite having a limp the majority of his last race of the season, James dug down and ran well. While most runners would have dropped out due to frustration and pain, James pushed through it and finished strong with a limp. It was a great testament of his inner strength. His great times over the season earned him a spot on our team's state series roster for his sophomore year. He worked his way onto the News-Gazette Prep Cross Country Leaders list for November.
     As a junior, James drastically increased his summer miles and ran 700 miles. He joined our team's 700 mile club. James earned the title of captain for his junior year. James' hard work and dedication in the summer paid off right away. He improved 1 minute and 35 seconds from last year's Charleston Invitational to run a 16:45 in this year's invite. This was not only James' time running in the 16's for the 3 mile, but also ran in the top 5 varsity runners. He ran fast enough to earn a spot on our team's fastest top 15 junior times list for the Charleston Invitational. He also earned a medal by placing 13th. James made his way onto the News-Gazette prep cross country leaders in September. He went onto run a lifetime personal best at the Springfield Invite with a time of 16:40. This was high enough to earn him a spot on our fastest junior list at the Springfield Invitational. He earned a medal at this meet by placing 23rd and running 5th for our team again. He earned enough letter points after his 2nd meet to become a three year varsity letter winner. He earned high enough grades his sophomore year to earn a spot on this year's scholar/athlete list. James went on to run another lifetime best at the Peoria Notre Dame invitational where he was in the top 7 for our team. He helped his team place the highest any MS team ever has at that invite. James ran a 16:28 which earned him a spot on the team's fastest junior times list for the Peoria Notre Dame Invitational. He made it onto our team's sub 30 South Mahomet loop run list again as a junior. James ran 5th for the team at the East Peoria Invitational to help his team win the meet. James ran a lifetime best of 16:19. This was the 6th fastest time we have had for a junior at this invitational. James ran a 17:08 on our challenging course for our 1 team Mahomet-Seymour Invitational. This was the 12th fastest time by a junior on our home course. James made his way onto the News Gazette Prep Cross Country Leaders List in October. James ran an incredible race at the Metamora Invitational and cracked into the 15s for the first time with a 15:59. His time was the 5th fastest time we have had for a junior at this meet. He became one of Mahomet's elite by breaking into the 15s. He was our 5th runner for our team and helped the team win the invitational for the first time ever. He earned a medal by placing 32nd. James earned a spot on our most improved over a career list by improving over 3 minutes from his first high school 3 mile to his fastest 3 mile. James ran a 16:47 at Conference on a slow course to place 17th. He helped our team get 2nd place. James ran right at his personal best 3 mile time at the Regional meet with a 16:30. James placed 16th and helped his team win the Regional meet. James ran an incredible race at the Sectional meet. He ran a strong first mile and finished by placing 4th for the team. He ran a lifetime 3 mile personal best of 16:26. He became a State Qualifier as he helped his team win the Sectional meet for the first time since 1979. James ran a lifetime 3 mile best at the State meet. He improved 24 seconds to run a 16:02. He placed 127th to help his team place 11th. He moved up to 34th on the most improved over a career list with a 3:28 improvement. He earned the 7th fastest MS junior time at the State meet. He earned our most improved award his junior year.
     As a senior, James returns to the team with State experience. James looked stronger and more confident in all of his early season workouts. He ran 800 miles in the summer and joined our 800 mile club. James earned the title of being team captain for the second year in a row. James also went on to earn our team's York 1000 mile club award. His leadership in the off season miles will help drive our program for years. James opened up his senior year with an 11th place finish at the Charleston Invitational. He was in the top five of our team in their first victory. James earned a medal with his place. James ran a 16:32 which was high enough to earn him the 6th place spot on our fastest top 15 senior times list for the Charleston Invitational. James continued to improve at the Springfield invitational. He ran a season best time of 16:23 which earned him 21st place and a medal. His time also earned him the 8th fastest senior time we have ever had at this invitational. James helped his team win the Springfield invitational over #2 State ranked Springfield. James earned his 4th varsity cross country letter early in the season. He made his way onto the News-Gazette's prep cross country leaders list in September. James ran a lifetime personal best at the Peoria Notre Dame Invitational. He improved to a 15:50. His time moved him to 34th on our most improved over a career list with a 3:40 career improvement. His time is the 6th fastest senior time we have had at that invite. He earned IL elite status by dyestatil.com for this performance. James helped his team run the fastest 5 runner and 7 runner average we have ever had at that invite. James went on to run a 16:08 at the East Peoria Invitational. His time placed him 15th which was high enough to earn him a medal. He helped his team win the team championship for the 3rd year in a row. His time was fast enough to earn him the 7th fastest senior time on that course. James made his way onto the News-Gazette's prep cross country leaders list in October. James ran a season best at the Metamora Invitational with a 16:39. His time earned him the 5th fastest senior time for our team's fastest Metamora Invitational. His place earned him a medal. He helped his team run the fastest top 5 and top 7 average for the Metamora Invitational. He also helped his team earn the team championship. James helped his team win the conference title for the first time in 28 years. James had a strong run and finished 12th. James has helped his team earn a 2nd in the State ranking for 4 weeks in a row. James had an outstanding race at the Regional meet. James ran a 15:50 to place 3rd. He earned a medal and All-Regional status by placing in the top 5. James helped his team run the fastest top 7 average at the Regional meet of any Mahomet team in 44 years. James helped his team win the Regional meet for the 3rd year in a row. James earned IL elite status by dyestatil.com for his Regional performance. James was given the honor of the News-Gazette Athlete of the Week Honorable mention for October 30, 2013. James earned his way onto the News-Gazette's prep cross country leaders list in November. James ran a lifetime 3 mile best at the Sectional meet where he placed 11th. He ran 2nd for his team and helped them win the Sectional title. He earned Il Elite status by dyestatil.com for his performance at the Sectional meet. His time of 15:44 was the 7th fastest senior time of any Mahomet senior at the Sectional meet. He became a state qualifier for the second year in a row. James had a good performance at the State meet. The course appeared to be a little slower than 20 seconds for the majority of the competition. James ran a 16:02 which would have been at his best race ever. He ran 2nd for his team and placed 90th overall. He moved up 37 places from last year. His time was the 16th fastest time for a Mahomet senior at the State meet in the past 44 years. James earned the fastest senior award this year for his 15:44.