Dallas-area distance runner signs with Gold Rush
was a Junior Olympics qualifier in 2010 while competing for the Mesquite Friendship Striders.
Jamaal Williams
February 2, 2011
NEW ORLEANS — Jamaal Williams, a key contributor in North Mesquite (Texas) High School's run to a district cross country championship in 2010, has signed a men's cross country scholarship \with Xavier University of Louisiana.
Williams, from the Dallas suburb of Mesquite, is the first Gold Rush signee for Coach Joseph Moses in 2011.
Williams finished ninth in the District 11-5A cross country meet during the fall and was his team's No. 3 finisher. His best time for 5,000 meters was 16 minutes, 58 seconds in the 2010 opener, an improvement of nearly 50 seconds from his best time the previous year.
His fastest times in outdoor track include 53 seconds for 400 meters, 2:05 for the 800 and 4:40 for the 1,600. Williams, who is 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighs 133 pounds,
A two-time winner of his cross country team's student-athlete award, Williams is undecided on his Xavier major. He is a native New Orleanian who lived in suburban Marrero until he was 12.
Xavier won the last five Gulf Coast Athletic Conference men's and women's team championships and qualified for the NAIA National Championship in 2008 and 2009.