Eastlake’s Jaelyn Williams surges as senior season begins

Jaelyn Williams knows what it’s like to go from the highest high to the lowest low.

She went from a state track champion to two-time San Diego Section record-holder, then had to battle back from two debilitating injuries in one school year.

Never once did she consider quitting.

“Running has been a big part of my life since I was 6 years old,” said the Eastlake High School senior. “You work through it, you don’t quit.”

Williams burst on the scene as a freshman, when she finished fourth in the state in the Division 1 cross country championships. On the track, she won San Diego Section titles in the 1,600 and 3,200, placing fourth at state in the 3,200.

A year later, Williams was even better.

She again finished fourth in the state in the largest-school division at Woodward Park in Fresno. A week later she placed seventh in the Nike National Cross Country Championships in Oregon, becoming the first runner across the finish line from California.

The spring was even more exciting: Williams set section records in the 1,600 (4:40.29) and 3,200 (9:57.11), the latter coming as she ran away with a state championship. Summer saw Williams place third in the Nike Nationals 3,200 in 10:08.12.

Little did Williams know she was at the top of the roller coaster, and it was about to go straight down.

During the summer, she suffered a left Achilles injury. And since Williams needed to have her wisdom teeth removed, she did that, too. Recovery wasn’t as quick as expected. By the time she finally ran a cross country race, she was hopelessly behind schedule.

She cruised to a section title but finished a distant 24th at the state meet.

“I was right there with the leaders at 2.5 miles,” said Williams. “I hit the wall. I just wasn’t used to running against really high-quality competition, and I was even wobbly at the finish. My muscles weren’t working.”

Williams decided to run the Foot Locker Regionals, where she qualified and went on to earn All-America honors with a ninth-place finish in the Nationals at Balboa Park.

So track season looked like it would be better. Before she stepped on the track for the first meet, she suffered an injury to her right hamstring. Just like with cross country, it would cost her precious training time.

She won the section 1,600 in 4:40.29 and 3,200 in 10:15.40, but again struggled at state.

“I went out too fast for my training, and while I was running, I was talking to myself saying, ‘Just stay in fourth instead of racing for third,’” said Williams of the 3,200. “I was making up stories in my mind about why I couldn’t do it.”

She was on to the Brooks PR Invitational, where she finished 10th in the 3,200 with a season-best time of 10:13.57. At the U-20 Nationals in Eugene, Ore., she placed second in the 1,500 with a time of 4:22.32.

The solid finishes fired Williams up for her senior season.

So far, she has beaten two-time state champion Chiara Dailey of La Jolla in the Ravens Invitational and placed third overall in the Woodbridge Invitational, one spot behind Dailey. Williams and Dailey will both be running at Stanford next year.

Now Williams will try to win an elusive state title in cross country. At Woodbridge, she beat all of her state Division 1 opponents.

“It was a good start, but there is a lot more to come,” she said. “I feel so much stronger and faster so far this season.”

Williams knows the path ahead. First come the section finals, followed by the state championships and hopefully the Nike Nationals and Brooks National Championships at Balboa Park. She said she’s “really looking forward to running Brooks again.”

“Brooks is my sponsor, so I’m really anxious to perform well,” she said. “I feel like I’m making up for lost time with lots more to come.”