Lauren Rain Williams gets 2 Golds

Guts to Gold…
Lauren Williams of the Quiet Fire Track Club Los Angeles , California knew it would be a lot of work to win one, let alone multiple medals over the two weeks of USATF Junior Olympics and AAU Junior Olympic Games, but she was ready for the challenge. Her first day of the USATF Championships, she ran less that a stellar performance finishing 2nd in her heat but just out of the finals line up.

Lauren took it in stride saying, “I think I could have run a little better, but I will do better next race”. Next day her team relay (ranked in the top 5 in the country) dropped the baton between 1 and 2nd hand off and there went the chance for a medal in the relay. This was a much more disappointing loss. Tired and a little down she knew she had to try hard to get in the final 8. Her last attempt to qualify for a medal was in the 100m. She qualified in the 8th and final spot .Lauren was very happy to get in there, and on finals day she finished 7th.

On To The AAU Junior Olympic Championships

No sooner than she crossed the finished line the 7th place finisher at the USATF Championships, the Williams family caught a 10:30 flight to Detroit to do it all over again. This time 100m,200m and Long Jump. Although tired, and needing a moment to take in all that had happened, Lauren rallied and Monday afternoon, after traveling 7 hours by car unexpectedly from Chicago to Detroit to get to the meet on time. Lauren ran the quarterfinals of the 100m finishing first in the heat and over all. Lauren reminded her mom and dad that she was going to defend her 100m National Championship and this year win another in the 200m.

2 Nationals Championships, One Happy Girl
The subsequent days of the semis were great outings for Lauren, running to impressive all first place finishes and daily refining her great trade mark start and explosive turn over speed, which had been absent the week earlier. Her confidence building ,once again she was ready to win another 2 National AAU title in the 100m and her first 200m National title.

Although it was a tough road to Gold, Lauren won both the 100m( 13.65) and 200m (28.48). National Championships in the Sub- Bantam-Girl Division and a 7th place finish in the Long Jump. Both times were the second fastest posted times for a 9 year old this season and although not personal records, (13.63 and 28.13) respectively, a very nice finish to her extraordinary season. Keep your eyes on Lauren Rain Wiliams she’s already thinking about next year’s Championships and how to win another Championship or 2.

When asked what was the highlight of the meet, Lauren said,” hearing the announce say nice things about me after I finished the race like ,Lauren Williams is making a name for herself”. I also really like seeing my friends from last year and making new ones and cheering them on. It’s fun to watch my friends win too.