Permian's Williams picks Tech

LaVorick Williams still has quite a long road ahead of him even to get close to achieving some of his lofty goals and dreams.

But the recent Permian High School graduate took a step in the right direction Tuesday when he signed to compete for the Texas Tech University men’s track and field team.

Williams said he also was mulling offers from Texas-El Paso, Arizona and Middle Tennessee State. In the end, he was won over by Red Raiders coach Wes Kittley.

“I’m very excited — I can’t wait,” Williams said. “It just clicked ever since I talked to (Kittley), and it’s been clicking ever since. It’s the Big 12, and I get to run against all the good fast people. Hopefully I’ll be one of them.”

Williams also was a standout receiver for Permian’s football team last fall, but he does not plan on competing in that sport at the collegiate level.

Instead, he has long-term dreams of chasing Olympic gold and short-term dreams of making an immediate impact in the Big 12 for Tech.

Williams finished fourth in the 200 meters in April at the Region I-5A Championships, which was run on the Tech campus. He also competed in the 400- and 800-meter relays for Permian at the regional meet.

Permian coach Jeep Shanks said the 6-foot-3, 185-pound Williams ironically opened eyes with his lone performance of the season in the 100 meters. Competing at the Tall City Relays in Midland, Williams won the race with a time of 10.78 seconds.

“The college coaches felt like somebody with his size and that much quickness must be able to get out of the blocks to run the 100 time he did,” Shanks said. “He just has a tremendous upside, and he’s just going to keep getting faster and faster.”

Williams is joining a Tech program that has burst upon the national scene since Kittley took over the program for the 2000 season.

Tech’s men’s team finished second at the Big 12 Championships last month, while the school’s women’s team finished fourth. Combined, the school’s programs had seven Big 12 event champions and finished with eight All-Americans last week at the NCAA Championships in Sacramento, Calif.

Williams, who said he will run the 100 and 200 for Tech, got to watch some of the NCAA meet in Sacramento last week while he was in town for the 48th adidas Golden West Invitational.

He finished second in the 100 at the meet and said he’s excited about the chance to concentrate solely on track.

Shanks also is excited to see what will happen to his former athlete at the collegiate level.

“I think he’s only at the tip of the iceberg for his track career,” Shanks said. “Just because of how he’s built and once he gets to train strictly for track year-round, I don’t think anybody can guess how fast he might be able to go.”

On the Net

>> For more about the Texas Tech men’s track and field program, visit http://texastech.cstv.com/sports/c-track/