Wheaton Warrenville South’s Amari Williams soars from track champion to football training at NIU

Recent Wheaton Warrenville South graduate Amari Williams had a short summer break, arriving at Northern Illinois University by June 15 for the start of summer football training.

For a fleeting moment, Williams even considered graduating early, but there remained his final boys track and field season with the Tigers – and the challenge of defending the Class 3A state championship in the 300-meter intermediate hurdles.

“It was just there’s so much to accomplish in track. I didn’t want to leave that and miss senior year,” Williams said.

“(Early graduation) was a thought and a lot of thinking but I decided for one last time that I was ever going to have a chance to compete in track.”

His last race was his best ever. The Suburban Life Newspapers Boys Track and Field Athlete of the Year not only repeated as state champion in the 300 hurdles May 31 but with a personal-best 36.94 seconds – his first time under 37 and the first sub-37 state title in any class since the IHSA state finals record of 36.53 in 2017.

Williams also became the first multiple state champion for any event in Wheaton Warrenville South/Wheaton High School history, including four-event state titlist Red Grange. In 1999, Jon Schweighardt was part of three event championships to lead the Tigers to a team state title.

“Winning my junior year and knowing people want the No. 1 spot and are going after me -- having that little target on my back gave me a little momentum, a little motivation to keep improving and getting better every day,” Williams said.

“It was a good feeling (to repeat), an unbelievable feeling, and I’m just blessed to be able to be part of it, something in a very hard race, going back-to-back. Just manifesting that and having it come to life, I’m still thinking about it.”

In football, the 6-foot-2, 175-pound Williams was a standout wide receiver and cornerback for the Tigers. He joined track as a sophomore initially hoping to improve his football athleticism.

“(Track) made me a better football player for sure. I felt like my work ethic got better doing track,” Williams said. “I was running with the best people in the state and just having that competition at a high level really gave me a spark for football.”

But hurdles? Assistant track coach Ken Young provided the “influence” and specialized hurdles training in addition to Williams’ sprint work for the 4x100 relay and occasionally 4x400.

As a sophomore, Williams was an all-state ninth in the hurdles (41.76) after a then personal-best 38.28 in prelims.

“I was pretty indecisive about (hurdles). I put my trust in (Young) to know what he was doing and he coached me up,” Williams said. “I wasn’t really good at it at first. He had me working every day, extra work outside of practice. I felt like that played a factor.”

By junior year, Williams won the 300 hurdles state title in a then-best 37.49 to join Schweighardt as the Tigers’ only state titlists in the event.

At this year’s state finals, Williams just missed another of his “long-term goals” by taking 10th in the 110 high hurdles prelims, his lifetime-best 14.52 only .06 from the last all-state finals berth. He also was part of the state 4x100 (18th, 42.33).

After a then-best 37.18 in the 300 hurdles prelims, Williams won the championship race by .48 over Belleville East sophomore Daylin Donaldson (personal-best 37.42) to solidify the No. 2 spot in the WWS record books. Schweighardt’s winning 36.77 from 1999 remains the IHSA state finals record for 3A.

“The last stretch I heard (Donaldson) creeping up a little. That gave me a boost and just the crowd cheering and being loud. Just seeing the finish line, that gave me more determination to finish strong,” Williams said.

“State was my last hurdles race. It was definitely a little emotional once I got done. I accomplished and achieved so much. Having that and to just walk away for me was a little emotional but I’m glad I got the experience.”

Also on an upswing, NIU football is coming off an overtime bowl game victory and regular-season victory over national championship runner-up Notre Dame.

Listed as a defensive back, Williams always will carry a little bit of track with him playing for the Huskies.

“(I’ll miss) just competing with my teammates and brothers, just the practices,” Williams said. “It was fun, the memories with them, and the competitive side of it, just being in the big meets and running and getting better each and every meet all the way up to state.”