University of Georgia Athletics
Williams Siblings Sharing Success
June 07, 2016 | Track & Field
By John Frierson
UGAAA Staff Writer
Kendell Williams thought for a few moments before answering. The Georgia track and field multi-time NCAA women's multi-event national champion had been asked for an example of how she was really competitive with her brother, fellow Bulldog Devon Williams?
They're two very gifted athletes, capable of putting up really big numbers in multiple events. Kendell, a junior, already has three NCAA indoor pentathlon national titles (setting a new collegiate record each time) and won the 2014 NCAA outdoor title in the heptathlon. Devon, about 18 months older and a redshirt junior, has come into his own this season and is ranked third nationally after posting a score of 8,116 at the SEC Outdoor Championships.
So what is the thing, Kendell, during which two driven and competitive siblings really go at it?
"I don't think we ever go at each other," she said, laughing. "The only thing my family does that can possibly be competitive is we play Phase 10, which is a card game."
Kendell is an ultra-gifted collegiate superstar, as all those NCAA titles prove, but she's also 5-foot-9, whereas Devon is 6-3 and looks and moves like someone capable of achieving virtually any athletic challenge you put in front of him.
"He would probably never let me win at anything and I know that. He has so much athletic ability, so there's really no competition," she said, laughing again. "It's cool because we do the same event, but it's technically not the same. We understand each other's events and we can support each other, but it's not a matter of who can run the hurdles faster. It's different distances and different heights."
If Devon is capable of dominating the one-on-one, it has been Kendell that so far has collected most of the collegiate hardware and accolades. As a freshman in 2014, she swept the NCAA multi-event titles, winning the pentathlon and heptathlon. She's added the two more pentathlon titles (and records) since then and placed second, despite a bad ankle, in the heptathlon at last year's NCAA Outdoor Championships.
Devon said that while he wishes that he'd been less injured and more consistent the past few years, he was always thrilled for his sister's success.
"We try to push each other to be the best that we can be, but we don't compete against each other," Devon said. "That's how we've been since we were young, and that was one of the reasons we wanted to come to the same college — to continue to push each other and make sure we're both on the right track and staying focused."
This week the Williams siblings are with a lot of other Bulldogs in Eugene, Ore., for the NCAAs. Kendell wants to regain her heptathlon crown and Devon wants to continue what has been a breakthrough year. He's not only competing in his second NCAA Outdoor Championships (he had to pull out last year due to injury), but he's also qualified for next month's Olympic Trials and met the Olympic "A" standard.
"It's been hard for me to be able to put together a good decathlon ever since I've been here," Devon said. "I've been dealing with so many injuries and other complications, so for me to finally have a year where I'm putting together good decathlons is huge to me. That's what I've been trying to do for years now and it's finally all coming together."
In fact, Devon has had a better season in the decathlon than Kendell has had in the heptathlon. Devon's score of 8,116 is third among Division I athletes this season — Georgia teammate and two-time defending NCAA decathlon champion Maicel Uibo is second (8,315) and fellow Bulldog Karl Saluri (8,108) is fourth — while Kendell's season-best score of 5,957 ranked sixth. Kendell's personal best in the heptathlon is 6,223, which she scored at last year's NCAAs.
Devon's 8,116 is the 12th highest score in the world this year (Uibo's 8,315 is sixth) and Georgia coach Petros Kyprianou said it's been pleasure to see Devon come into his own this season.
"I kept telling him, don't give up, keep working and your time will come," Kyprianou said. "And it finally came. He got that big, massive score at SECs and for him it's one of those things where you feel like for him it's, ‘OK, all the work I've put in is paying off.' He's done a good job and he's a tremendous athlete."
Brother and sister are together in Eugene this week and they'll be there together again for the Trials, as will their parents, Blane and Terri — video camera in hand.
"For both of us it will be our first time being at an Olympic Trials and it will be so, so special to be able to share that experience. It was so cool when we were on the Pan Am (Games) team together (in 2013) because I don't think there were any other siblings on that Pan Am team," Kendell said. "It will be another milestone for us that's really cool."
Devon and Kendell have amassed a massive trophy collection over the years, and because their mom records virtually all of their competitions there's a massive video library as well. "Everything we do, she records," Devon said.
With some good work and good fortune, both collections will have a lot added to them in the days and weeks ahead.
John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files. He's also on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.
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