ALL CENLA ELITE'S NOBLE WILLIAMS IS ALL SMILES AFTER HIS JV NATIONAL RECORD MARK!
Sometimes, when you are in the heat of competition, you have to have the discipline to disconnect. To turn off the cellphone and focus on the task at hand.
That's exactly what All Cenla Elite's Noble Williams did after a riot broke out on Wednesday at the AAU Junior Olympics in Greensboro, North Carolina, causing the meet to be suspended for the day. Williams competed in the 13-year-old javelin the following day.
"It was actually tough," Williams told MileSplit's Olivia Ekpone about focusing on what he had to do to compete well in the javelin. "After everything that happened, I put everything down. I locked my phone and just focused on what I had to do to win."
It was a Noble decision that paid off as he tied the national record of 153-11 set by Henry Martin in 2017.
While Williams won by over 10 feet, the win did not come without a few nervous moments.
Williams had a couple of bad throws before launching his national record throw on his third attempt.
"This happens all the time," Williams said. " My first two throws are completely horrible. On the last throw (in the prelims), everyone was clapping and I felt motivated."
He was also motivated by what his competition threw just before he got on the runway for his third attempt.
"I saw Little throw 135' and that shook me a little bit," Williams said. "I realized that I didn't run as fast as I usually do, so once I fixed that it flew."
Williams gave credit to his coaches and competition credit.
"First, I have to thank my coaches," Williams said. "There were some really tough kids. I was shaking. I knew I was going to win, but I saw the kind of competition I had and it kind of shook me. They pushed me to get the record. I feel really good about it."
Williams now sets his eyes on making a world team and also throwing the javelin 200 feet.
Noble Williams wasn't the only AAU Junior Olympic National Champion from Central Louisiana.
Kaylen Rabalais won the 15-16 girls javelin throw with throw of 152'11. Rabalais' competition included Alexis Guillory, who finished third with a 147'10 and Sarah Dupuy, who finished fourth with a throw of 145'2.
Guillory and Dupuy--as teammates at Alexandria Senior High--are used to competing against one another. During the high school season, Dupuy was the District 2-5A champion, while Guillory was the Region I-5A champion and LHSAA 5A State Champion with a throw of 138-8.
Rabalais, who will be a sophomore this year, was a state champion as well, winning the LHSAA Class 2A javelin title for Bunkie as a freshmen with a throw of 125-0.