Williams primed for great season – Boldon
JAMAICAN SPRINT prospect Briana Williams is primed for a great season. That is the inside information from her coach, Ato Boldon. Optimistic about the future of Jamaican sprinting, Boldon also envisages a World Junior 4x100m relay record for Jamaica.
Williams took the Under-20 100m at the Carifta Trials on Saturday, but a pesky headwind and a weakened field precluded a run for fast times. Speaking at the National Stadium just after she won her preliminary-round race, Boldon outlined, “I think a lot of people are going to look at Briana and they’re going to say,‘Well, we’re sort of projecting forward this year just a slight tick up,’ and I am saying now, in early April, Briana’s going to have a big tick up.”
He is seeing the signs of progress every day at training in Miramar, Florida. “It’s showing in practice,” he shared, “but it also shows above the neck.
“She carries herself differently now”, he revealed. “What those two World Junior championships did for her in terms of her confidence and so on, you’re going to see it this year,” the four-time Olympic medallist said.
Boldon said Williams may take a run at the World Junior record of 10.88 seconds. “We’re going to go to altitude to take some shots at the record when the training suits it,” he said.
EYES ON THE SENIOR TEAM
The target for the 17-year-old Williams is a place on the national senior team for the IAAF World Championships, which will be held in Doha, Qatar.
“Obviously, she’s going to be here trying out for Doha, but we have eliminated all the quantity races and we are only running quality races,” he established.
He had hoped that the Carifta Trials would see Williams facing Kevona Davis and Ashanti Moore, who starred at the ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys and Girls’ Athletics Championships.
“My biggest disappointment is that we were coming here because we thought that a race with Ashanti and Kevona was on deck, and that it is not the case, but she’s still ready to drop a really fast time,” he said.
Last year, Williams clocked personalbest times of 11.13 and 22.50 seconds for the 100 and 200m, respectively.