Wilson Hall's Williamson takes sixth at SCISA state XC meet, wins Hines Furniture Athlete of the Week

Wilson Hall freshman Caulder Williamson has gotten out to an impressive start to his cross country career.

He got the ball rolling on the varsity level last year with an 11th-place finish at the SCISA 4A state meet as an eighth-grader. That set a high bar for his time in high school, but he keeps one-upping himself.

The Baron was a region champion two weeks ago before running in the SCISA 4A state meet yet again on Saturday. With his eyes set on an all-state finish, he did that and more. He was the top freshman in the classification on his way to a sixth-place finish. After a great race on Saturday, he was also able to take home Hines Furniture Athlete of the Week honors.

"It feels really good," Williamson said of the recognition. "I'm thankful for everyone that voted."

For Wilson Hall head coach Reid Schwartz, this was just the next step for Williamson, who set a personal best time of 16:35.37 at the Region II-4A meet the week prior.

"I think that performance was just a continuation of what we've seen all year with Caulder, especially in the back half," Schwartz said. "He had a goal, put that in his mind, and you can count on him accomplishing that goal, whether it be a time or winning a race or to get a certain place."

That hot finish to the year started with breaking 17 minutes for the first time during the Wilson Hall/Thomas Sumter Invitational on Sept. 27. He then chopped off more than 20 seconds at the region meet. He had his eyes set on another personal record at Heathwood Hall on Saturday. While he fell short of that goal, Williamson still checked off another box.

"It's kinda nerve-wracking knowing that it was the last meet of the year, and I wanted to prove where I want to be in the state. I ended up placing first for my grade," Williamson said. "Last year I got 11th, and that was one place away from all-state. This year, that was the goal to get all-state, and I've been waiting to do that all season."

The freshman had one runner in his sights when the race started.

"Jack Wilcox from Heathwood was the top ninth-grader in South Carolina at the time," Williamson said. "He was the kid I wanted to stay with for the race. I ended up beating him by like one-and-a-half seconds."

Williamson finished Saturday's race with a time of 16:46.48. He wasn't far ahead of teammate Abel Ayers, another freshman who earned all-state honors. The pair continue to drive each other to great success.

"I'm proud of him because he was able to break 17 and get Top 10 in the state," Ayers said. "Knowing you have another kid in your grade from the same school pushes you a little bit harder, makes you go a little bit faster."

Schwartz loves seeing the way his freshmen runners push each other every day.

"Both of them have been great throughout the year. We really knew we had something special last year, so it was nice to see them both get recognized towards the end of the year," the coach said. "Cross county is such an important sport, I think, to have someone that you're going up against, whether that be in practice or in races, but they kinda just feed off each other and are very competitive. They really bring the best out of each other."

Williamson also had to follow after his younger sister, Emmie, who was busy earning all-state honors as just a seventh-grader in the previous race.

"I knew that she had PR'd by like 20 seconds and heard she got Top 10, so I knew it was my time again, and I had to run fast," the freshman said.

The dynamic freshman duo still have plenty of time left in their high school careers to hunt down Connor Smith's school record of 15:52.54, which he set at last year's state meet.

"Unfortunately for Connor, I think that day is coming sooner, rather than later," Schwartz said. "I think for Caulder it's just continuing to stay with it and push himself, which I have no doubt that he'll be able to do that. Abel's not too far behind him, so it'll be fun to see how this plays out.

"Individual goals are certainly important for us, but we have a very young team, so we're super excited moving forward as a team. I think we put ourselves on the map, and we're a team to watch for the coming years."