Lauren Rain Williams, who has been setting age group records left and right as she has grown up in the USATF and AAU summer track circuit in the girls sprints, has decided with her parents that she will not be running for her high school this outdoor season at the national powerhouse program of Long Beach Poly in California. Despite having just started high school, the debut of Williams to the high school track & field has been long waited and highly anticipating after running times as a youth that could have already ranked up with the best in high school at the time.
Two summers ago as a 7th grader, Rain Williams posted a 100 time of 11.90 and 200 meter time of 23.80. Earlier this indoor season, Williams ran her first race as a 9th grader with a then US #1 clocking at 200 meters in a 24.38 performance in Boise, Idaho. Williams later in the winter finished 6th in the finals of the 60 meter dash (7.62) at the Simplot Games.
In the story first reporting her decision by Rich Gonzalez of PrepCalTrack, her parents cited academic concerns and the time commitments necessary for maintaining a high grade point average as a major reason for the decision to pull her off the team at this time. It appeared to be a publicly amicable split and agreement between Williams and her parents with the Long Beach Poly coaching staff and team. Williams is not the first high-profile track & field athlete to opt to not run for a high school team and instead compete unattached in meets.
The list of names just in the recent years who have gone down a similar path include the likes of Mary Cain, Lukas Verzbicas, and Aurora Scott. All of these situations have made many question or at least broaden their mindset of what other avenues that high school athletes can take in order to develop fully and achieve the most potential success beyond the traditional model of running for your high school team and coach.
Hannah Cunliffe from the state of Washington is a contemporary example for Williams as one of the nation's fastest returning sprinters, but has been homeschooled and competes without a high school team. Cunliffe's situation did not shy away the University of Oklahoma from signing the talented senior speedster to join their program last month. Williams will still be attending Long Beach Poly, so there is hope that she may possibly one day or in the coming years rejoin the team and compete for California state titles as well as race in other high profile sanctioned high school meets.
Currently, Williams will have to compete unattached in college, all-comers, and USATF/AAU meets. However, she would still be eligible to compete at the New Balance Indoor Nationals and New Balance Outdoor Nationals if she chose to attend those meets and go head-to-head with the best high school kids in the country.
