The Grind, presented by Bank of Clarendon: Williamson siblings starring for Wilson Hall cross country

Age is just a number.

That phrase is often used in the context of people holding onto their youthful vigor as their age creeps higher. In the case of Caulder and Emmie Williamson, it's quite the opposite.

Caulder is just a freshman, and Emmie is only a seventh-grader, but both are making an impact far beyond their age for the Wilson Hall cross-country program. Both broke onto the scene as middle-schoolers and have their sights set on school records before their time with the Barons comes to an end.

GETTING STARTED

Caulder and Emmie started running when they were young, following in the footsteps of their mom, Holly. Caulder started competing in the first grade with a club in Columbia and found some success right off the bat.

"Caulder has always been very active and even as a young child. You'd never see him without a ball of some sort in his hands," Holly said. "When Caulder was in first grade, his teacher in Lexington was well aware of his energy level and invited him to be a part of the Run Hard team at school, a character-based running program for kids that trains them to run a 5K. In his first 5K race as a first-grader, he actually came in second for his age group and made it to the 'championship; with a time of a little over 28 minutes. His next race a few months later was about five minutes faster.

"For the next several years, he trained with the Run Hard team where they would have two races per year, and his teacher's husband became his running buddy on the courses because we haven't been able to keep up with him in a race since he was in first grade."

When the family moved to Sumter, the Williamsons formed the Run Hard program at his new school, Alice Drive Elementary. It didn't take long for Emmie to start following in his footsteps.

"I would watch his races when he was younger, and when he got on that podium for top three, I was wanting to be the same way and get top three, too," Emmie said.

She more than made her own mark. Last year as a sixth-grader, she finished first overall among females in the Midlands Run Hard fall race.

Now, the pair are showing off their skills together at Wilson Hall, and their parents couldn't be more proud.

"Having both of them compete on the same team has been great. They both push each other in so many ways," Holly said. "They have great coaches who have taught them a lot. They have also been great to pass knowledge on to us about a proper diet and why running shoes are so important. As they grow older, the moments observing them supporting each other's accomplishments have been precious."

CAULDER'S EARLY SUCCESS

Caulder became one of the mainstays of the Wilson Hall varsity last season as an eighth-grader. Throughout the season, he blossomed into the team's No. 2 male runner behind Connor Smith, who now owns the school record in the 5K. Caulder learned so much from having a star senior leading the pack.

"Being able to run with Connor really helped because he was a great mentor for me, and he kinda showed me some of the things that I could do in the future by myself without him," Caulder said.

It also helped to have another middle-schooler by his side. Caulder and Abel Ayers are still typically side by side crossing the finish line, constantly pushing each other every day.

"Abel is a really good runner, too, and without him I probably couldn't be where I (am) because me and him push each other so hard in practice," Caulder said.

Caulder found success as an eighth-grader, but it wasn't easy. He had to get over the mental hurdle of being the eighth-grader surrounded by juniors and seniors.

"Your heart's always pounding before almost every race," Caulder said. "When you start, everybody's bigger than you. If you get out in front, you'll be fine. But if you get stuck in that middle area at the start of the race, you could get trampled."

The highlight of his eighth-grade season came in the final race. As Connor was busy setting a new school record, Caulder and Abel were placing back to back in 11th and 12th. Caulder felt like he'd arrived.

"The first mile was very fast, and I was very surprised that we were able to do that, and I thought to myself, 'There's no way we're going to be able to keep this up,'" Caulder recalled. "We ended up keeping it up into the third mile, and I look at my watch and the time was 30 seconds faster than my PR before."

WILSON HALL/THOMAS SUMTER INVITATIONAL

Emmie ran with the varsity as a sixth-grader, but she moved into the starting lineup this fall and has surpassed even the wildest expectations for herself.

The Williamsons' greatest highlight thus far came in the same race, the Wilson Hall/Thomas Sumter Invitational on Sept. 27. Competing against the top runners in the county, the pair swept first-place finishes. Emmie opened with a win in the girls race before Caulder came in and finished first among the guys.

Winning the girls race was no easy feat. Emmie went into the race thinking she had a shot to come away with a win. At first, she was focused on Trinity Collegiate's Kate Coker, but as the race wore on, she realized her top competitor for the first-place finish was Molly Smith of Sumter High.

"I was going around the baseball field, and I had left (Coker), and (Smith) was probably like 30 yards ahead of me. And I was like, 'OK, if I really want this, I've gotta really push hard for this,'" Emmie said. "Then she started distancing herself and I was like, 'I've gotta pick up the pace, I can do this.' Then we were like 200 away, and I was like, 'OK, it's time, I actually need to do this and go faster.' Everybody was cheering, and I had to just turn it on and give it all I had."

So Emmie turned on the jets for the home stretch.

"I sprint the last 100 because I just think that giving everything you've got in the last part is the best thing to do," Emmie said. "I know that I could not feel my legs and I was going as fast as I could and if she were to go any faster that I don't think I could have. It was close, and I think I only beat her by like a step, but it was fun."

It was a photo finish. Emmie crossed with a time of 20:14.34. Smith finished in 20:14.44.

All the while, Caulder was watching, supporting his sister. Suddenly, he had a tough act to follow.

"After Emmie won, it kinda put the pressure on me. I was like, 'Well, I guess I've gotta win now, too,'" Caulder said.

The freshman had a less stressful race from a competitive standpoint. He won by more than 17 seconds, but his top goal was finishing in less than 17 minutes. That was a little bit tougher, but he managed to cross the finish line in 16:57.07.

"Their work ethic and grit have amazed us, and almost every race completion brings tears to our eyes," their father, Stephen, said. "When they make a goal, even if it seems unrealistic to us, they seem to achieve it every time."

The pair then ran in the SCISA Region II-4A meet last Tuesday and put on a show yet again.

Caulder took home another first-place finish at Patriot Park, creating a new personal best with a time of 16:35.37. Emmie had to settle for second in the girls race, finishing behind Coker with a time of 20:33.47.

Their attention now turns to the SCISA state meet, which will be run at Heathwood Hall on Saturday.

HIGH EXPECTATIONS

Finding success at a young age can be a conundrum. On the one hand, it's always good to win. On the other hand, it sets a high level of expectation that can be difficult to follow up on. Luckily for Emmie and Caulder, they come from a household that avoids adding extra pressure to constantly one-up yourself.

"We have had no real expectations for our kids' athletic abilities other than to do your best," Holly said. "Our goals as parents has been to provide opportunities for their desires and strengths and hope and pray that they honor God with their abilities."

Running is a sport that feeds into that fear of missing a high bar. There is always a time next to your name at the end of a race, and runners are more than familiar with how that time compares to their personal best. Caulder got some sage advice from Wallie Jones on how to deal with that level of expectation on a race-to-race basis.

"Mr. Wallie Jones told me one time that every good runner isn't going to try to beat their PR (personal record) every time; they're going to try to beat their average in that season," he said.

"If they beat their average in that season, in that race, that should be a good day for them."

That being said, both Caulder and Emmie are leaning into those high expectations.

Emmie is already making a push for the Wilson Hall girls 5K record, which currently sits at 19:32, a number she has memorized.

"I don't know if it'll happen this year, but I do look at the school record, and I want to get close to it or maybe beat it soon because I feel like it would be pretty cool to set that at an early age," she said.

Just being close to that number as a seventh-grader shows the growth Emmie has made in the last year.

"I was not thinking I'd be anywhere close," Emmie said. "Starting last year, I was in like the 24s, and I was five minutes away from the school record. Then I was at a meet, and I PR'd by like two minutes, and I was like, 'Wow, I'm actually running faster than I thought I could do.'"

Emmie has one other goal in mind, as well.

"I was talking to one of my coaches, and they were saying that we've never had a (female) Wilson Hall runner ever win state before," Emmie said. "I was thinking that would be pretty cool because there's a lot of Heathwood Hall girls who are really fast and they win state every year. So, it'd be pretty cool to one day get like fast enough to beat them and compete against them to where I could actually win."

Caulder, meanwhile, has his sights set on Connor's record of 15:52.54.

"By my senior year, I do want to have broken the school record that Connor has set. And in track, I want to try to beat a couple of Connor's records in that, too," Caulder said.

Because the pair has been so successful so quickly, they suddenly have thoughts of running in college. Emmie hasn't even started high school, but she's talked with coaches about running at the next level. Connor is even putting in a good word for Caulder at Charleston Southern.

"I've definitely thought about it a couple times," Caulder said of running after high school. "After I did break 17, Connor actually texted me that night and said he'd talk to the coaches about giving me a scholarship to CSU."

While college cross country may be in their futures, Stephen and Holly are trying to make sure they focus on the present first.

"We've discussed with Caulder and Emmie that they could possibly have a future in running past high school, but we know they have to take it one year, one season and one race at a time," Holly said. "We just constantly hope and pray that they will honor God in all their endeavors."

RUNNING FAMILY

The Wilson Hall cross country and track programs have grown into some of the top SCISA programs in each sport. Caulder and Emmie stressed how important the bonds they've formed with teammates and coaches have been in their success.

"Our family of a cross-country team, we're pretty close," Emmie said. "I have a shirt that says, 'Run as one, work as a team and finish as family.' I like to think of that one a lot because I run my race, and then we finish as a team, and I'll be with my family at the end."

The duo also has a younger brother who may be following in their footsteps very soon.

"Caulder and Emmie also have a younger brother, Reid, with whom we hope they will pass the baton," Holly said.