Track & Field News Runner Of The Month
Karjuan Williams

by Steve Bailey

Karjuan Williams (New Bern, North Carolina) is the Track & Field News High School Runner Of The Month For February. Last year's No. 1 high school All-America in the 800, he PRed at 1:50.14 and is now threatening to break 1:50 indoors.

In the middle of his award-winning month of February he led his team to its first state title, winning the 300 in 34.77 (No. 8 on the year) and the 500 in 1:04.92 (No. 5), and contributing to victories in both the 4x4 (48.2 split) and 4x8 (1:55) relays.

A week later he won the 800 at the Simplot Games in Pocatello, Idaho in 1:50.74. That time, which was good enough for No. 3 on the all-time high school list, missed Mike Granville's national record of 1:50.55, set in '95, by just 0.19. As his former club coach, Jackie Callender of the New Orleans Comets, likes to point out, "Karjuan is no longer a secret."

Indeed his story has been closely covered since best-selling novelist Nicholas Sparks (A Walk To Remember, True Believer) aided the Williams family in recovery from Hurricane Katrina, which devastated their hometown of New Orleans and destroyed St. Augustine High School.

Sparks reached the Williams family just as Hurricane Rita was threatening the city of Lake Charles, Louisiana, where they had initially taken refuge. Sparks and his wife, Catherine, arranged for the Williams family to relocate to North Carolina.

We caught up with Karjuan (kar-won) for this interview just hours after he had improved his all-time indoor 800 best to 1:50.64 at the Alex Wilson Invitational at Notre Dame, running against collegians looking to run well under 1:50:

T&FN: What was going through your mind before going to the Last Chance NCAA qualifier in Notre Dame?

KW: I was just going to run the race I was. I didn't really think that they were that much better than I was. So I thought, if they could do it, I could do it.

T&FN: Where did you finish?

KW: 9th.

T&FN: How did the race feel?

KW: It felt different-the whole atmosphere of the race-because the race came up on me pretty fast. I was just warming up and then it was like the race was right there. And the tempo of the race-everything was different.

T&FN: Did you go out faster than you're used to?

KW: Yeah, I did. I didn't expect them to go out the way they did and then I just ran my race a little too relaxed.

T&FN: How did the race go?

KW: Well, we had a rabbit. So the rabbit takes it out in like 51 and I am like 52-and-whatever and I guess the guys just sat on me. The whole time I was running they were on my heels, literally. I could feel myself spiking a couple people that were behind me as I was running and then they finally came up on me with 250m left. Then they started making their move and even if I wanted to move I really couldn't because I had gotten boxed in a that point.

T&FN: Were you trying to acclimate yourself to a faster race pace?

KW: No, I was trying to break 1:50 indoors.

T&FN: So you moved yourself that much closer to the High School Record of 1:50.55.

KW: Yeah, but it's an oversized track.

T&FN: Does having all these collegiate runners sitting on you make you wonder what kind of a threat you will be when you compete in college?

KW: No. It lets me know how much I don't know so far.

T&FN: What did you learn there?

KW: I learned that I don't have to lead the race. The person that leads the race doesn't always win the race.

T&FN: Was it difficult to come into the high school season as the No. 1 800 runner and with all the expectations?

KW: No, not really. I mean a lot of people might not know it, but that makes it easier because a bunch of people may be gunning for you, but nobody's going to... I don't know.

T&FN: No one is going to get you?

KW: No, but they might not challenge me. I challenge people, but I like to try to do it quick. A lot of guys if they see someone they think is better than them they won't try to hurry, approach and challenge them because there's such a fear of it-challenging athletes. Some people might not do it out of fear, they think, "I know what this guy can do and I don't want to hurt challenging him, I want to hurt doing what I can do and get it over with, I don't want to spend it all of a sudden" and then they go too slow with it.

I know everyone wants to be the best too; so I know, of course, there are people who will challenge me eventually and when they challenge me I'll just have to challenge back.

T&FN: You have just one more race coming up-the Nike Indoor Nationals. Do you have a strategy for that that you would want to reveal?

KW: I don't have a real strategy, but just to go out and do better than I did the last time. That's always my strategy. Just do better.

T&FN: How do you feel like your season's progressed?

KW: I'm better than I was last year.

T&FN: What are you looking to do outdoors?

KW: Outdoors I'm looking to go at least 1:40 anything-1:40 something. So that by the time my real season-my summer season-comes in Beijing or wherever, I can at least be in competing range.

T&FN: You told me in an earlier interview that your favorite race was the...

KW: Quarter?

T&FN: No...

KW: The 300 hurdles, right?

T&FN: Yeah, have you raced it much?

KW: I ran it in almost every track meet in New Orleans and once in Texas.

T&FN: What have you run for it?

KW: Oh, only 39.

T&FN: What do like about the event?

KW: I just like how you run it. You get out of the blocks and drive to the hurdles.

T&FN: Do you see yourself running that this year?

KW: Maybe twice. Mostly the quarter though, because I concentrated so much on the 800 indoors that I'm going to push more the quarter outdoors.

T&FN: At the 2004 Junior Olympics in Eugene, Oregon you completed a very rare double by winning the 800 and the 400 in your age division. Did you feel you were going to pull it off?

KW: I was pretty confident in the 800; in the 400 I was a little scared.

T&FN: And you got it anyways. Of all of your races, which has been the most gratifying?

KW: Greensboro, North Carolina last year. I got second place in the 800 [at the Nike Outdoor Nationals.]

T&FN: And why?

KW: Because I learned a lot in that race.

T&FN: What did you learn?

KW: A bunch of things. No matter what happens you've got to have your game face. You can't let anybody make you nervous. Don't focus on other competitors. You've got to learn to run your race. I learned to run my race that day.

T&FN: What was your plan for the 500m when you ran the 1:02?

KW: I don't really know. It was an accident.

T&FN: How was it an accident?

KW: First I was planning on running the 300 and not running the 500 and then I missed the 300, so I then I had to run the 500. And I was little scared at first, but went out there and made it happen. I thought there was a bunch of people that were going to beat me because that was my first time really ever running the 5. So I just ran the race. I didn't know a real good time for it. As a matter of fact, I didn't even think I would do that good in a 500.

T&FN: You had already run the 47.99. Had that given you any hopes of a fast time or not?

KW: Maybe that I could run a good quarter. I knew my first quarter was going to be pretty good.

T&FN: Did you know you were close to that record?

KW: No. Not at all. Coach Sparks put my time down at 1:04.00. I thought, "I can't do that." But I knew I didn't want to make a liar out of him.

T&FN: You've now had two coaches who have had a real strong influence on your training?

KW: Actually, there's a silent coach that nobody knows of [Johnny Giardano of Barbe HS in Lake Charles]. When I went there with Trey Harts [who heads the yearly indoor list at 55m].

T&FN: Tell me about him.

KW: The coach over there was pretty good. He's a real good sprint coach and he actually put me on weights. I'd never worked on weights. He taught me the different ways to lift and helped me out with my technique.

T&FN: So you've continued the lifting routine?

KW: Not as much.

T&FN: Can you describe the shift in training through the three coaches?

KW: With Coach Callender we did more of a speed indoors workout where we have sprints one day and the next day we have mid-range work. We never had real distance running work.

T&FN: What would the sprints be like?

KW: For a warm-up we had maybe fifteen 150s...

T&FN: For warm-up?

KW: Yeah, it was a speed acceleration ladder. We Probably did 6 x 200 too; then 7 x 100. We had a whole routine of sprint workouts. For our mid-range work it was maybe 6 x 600 or from 2-4-8-12-mile-12-8-4-2. Basically that.

With the coach at Barbe, I didn't really get a chance to start running with him yet, but he would tell you different technique. When we were in the weight room, he taught me how to lift. What all the machines were for and all the positions you should be in the lift and all the proper lifting techniques. He taught me the dead lift and power clean and snatch. All different lifting techniques.

T&FN: The great athlete on the Barbe team was really on a par with you?

KW: If you take my 800 and Trey's 100 or his 200, then me and Trey are equal.

T&FN: But you didn't really quite get a chance to run with him?

KW: No.

T&FN: And when you got to Sparks' program?

KW: When I got to Nick's program it was a whole new ball game. They didn't lift as much and we put on more miles. I think we average like 20-25M. We do more of an 800 workout. Coach Sparks only coaches the 800 runners, so it's just a lot slower than I would be with coach Callender.

We haven't even started on sprint workouts. We're basically on mileage- getting all our aerobics in. Later in the season we'll be doing the [fast] 200s or something like that, but until then we'll be working on 30 x 200s at 32 pace-that kind of mile pace. Three 150s to warm-up and maybe 8 x 800.

T&FN: Nick said that he had brought Coach Callender in for a visit in the fall and he worked with the team, teaching everyone some of the drills he had taught you. Are you still doing the drills?

KW: Oh of course. Those are the drills I know. I do those every day before I start to work out.

T&FN: And the rest of the team as well?

KW: Yeah.

T&FN: And these are just warm-up drills?

KW: Warm-up drills and a lot of the drills teach you how to hold your form.

T&FN: How would you describe your form when you first started running?

KW: When I first started? Oh, everybody when they first start thinks its great. I was great. [Laughs] No, I don't really know. I never really got a chance to see my form, but what people have told me about it. People said, you hunch your shoulders or you lean back. A whole bunch of things people told me. It sounds like I've come a long way.

T&FN: Talk about coming a long way, Coach Callender said you started out as a decathlete and dodged him in practice in the beginning and now have become one of the hardest-working athletes he's seen?

KW: I wouldn't say I was dodging him. Some of the days I didn't want to do it and I was like, come on, man. When you're new to something you're not going to necessarily jump right into it, but after a while you realize, OK, this is what I want to do. If I'm going to do this I have to train hard. You have to train like the best if you want to be the best. After a while you realize that 's what I have to do.

T&FN: How did you like competing in the decathlon?

KW: It was just something to do because I like competing and I got to do a little of this and a little of that.

T&FN: When did you decide it was time to focus on the 800?

KW: This is my 800. First year I did good. I qualified for nationals in the decathlon. My second year, I got hurt in the decathlon. While I was doing the pole vault, I hurt my toe. So going into my last year in the Intermediates at the qualifying meet in Louisiana I went 2:01-with ease! So instead of 1:59, I thought I could go 1:57. Then one day I was talking to coach Callender and I said, "Coach, I know I can go 1:56 or 1:55."

He said, "You know what, Karjuan, if you think you can do that..." And then I was in training to go 1:56. I thought I could do it, but I didn't really think I could do it that good. It was just me talking trash. Then we got to Miami that summer and I popped a 1:55.

Coach Callender was like, "Wow!" and then in the finals I went 1:52.83. Before that Coach Callender talked to me and said, "Karjuan, if you do what I think you can do, this will change your life forever."

T&FN: And how has it changed your life forever?

KW: People expect more of me and some kids now look up to me. So with people having high expectations for me, I have to do better, I have to work harder. I can't be that normal guy who is always picking on somebody or who people think, he's a bad person. I can joke sometimes, but I can't be hardcore joking and playing practical jokes on people. That really doesn't make any sense.

Or I can't be out in the public cussing, using vulgar language, especially not around kids because people are like, that's Karjuan Williams-it looks like he's down on himself. And I don't want kids to look at me and say, well if he does it, then I can do it. They might take what I do differently. If I'm doing it they might be like, well if Karjuan can do that... and they might take it to another level-doing something outrageous.

T&FN: You used to pull pranks and were pretty loud in school?

KW: Oh yeah, of course. I still am the average teenager-in school the class clown, so to speak.

T&FN: Prior to the adjustments you had to make because of the hurricanes, you really did prove yourself as a role model by catching up on your schoolwork and skipping up a grade. Why did you make the decision to do that?

KW: That was that I didn't want to sit out a year. In Louisiana I wouldn't be eligible after this year because of my age. So I was in summer school all summer.

T&FN: You're lucky it hit after the hurricane.

KW: Yeah, I had finished two weeks before the hurricanes.

T&FN: How many classes did you have to take and which ones?

KW: I had to climb over. I had to take four. Chem, English 4, Algebra 2 and American History. I got a B and three C's.

T&FN: Did you lose a lot of time academically after the moves?

KW: A little bit, but then I got back in the game.

T&FN: What have been your best subjects in school?

KW: Always History. Yeah, History and Science. That's always easy.

T&FN: What about English?

KW: English? Hah. Mostly C's.

T&FN: Well now that your coach is the best-selling author, Nicholas Sparks, have you spent more time reading any of his books?

KW: Nah, I watch the movies.

T&FN: Which is your favorite?

KW: The Notebook.

T&FN: What did you like best about it?

KW: I liked the way it played out. I like romance stories and how that story went.

T&FN: What kind of impact has Sparks had on you athletically?

KW: Nick's a good coach. When I got here, I thought, "Man this guy, whatever whatever, he isn't really that good," but the thing about him is he's a good coach. He always has a bunch of things to say with coaching because he ran the 800 also. There's a whole lot of advice he'll give you on the race.

T&FN: He works with two programs--As a volunteer assistant for the high school and as a coach for East Carolina?

KW: They're almost the same thing. It's just that when he's with East Carolina, they get a couple other people from across the state to run with them.

T&FN: Some pretty good guys, too. Brandon Banks. Do you train with him much?

KW: No, just the high school team.

T&FN: Do you keep up with some of your teammates from St. Augustine?

KW: All the time. I still have friends that I had in New Orleans and I've made more friends out here on the team, like J.R. Whitfield-he runs the 100-and Daniel Castlelow-he runs the 800.

T&FN: Where did the St. Augustine teammates end up?

KW: A bunch of people are in Texas and Atlanta and a bunch of them are trying to go back to New Orleans.

T&FN: When did you finally go back and what was it like?

KW: I went back for a couple days about two weeks after the hurricane. It was weird to see my city like that.

T&FN: And most of your things were missing?

KW: Yeah, my spikes were missing, too.

T&FN: What were they?

KW: Nike Maxcats.

T&FN: What do you miss most about New Orleans?

KW: Everything. When I was younger I was like, I want to graduate and not come back because all there was was violence, but after a while when you look at it, yeah they had violence, but that's my people. Not the people that are doing the violence, but I still had friends there. I had friends, family and all of that. That's where I grew up and that's what I grew to love at the same time. That environment of crawfish and block parties-stuff like that.

T&FN: Do plan on returning again soon?

KW: I want to go back for spring break.

T&FN: What are you going to do?

KW: Go back to my old track and visit a couple of friends.

T&FN: When you went to the LSU meet did you get see a lot of your old friends there?

KW: I saw a bunch of people there.

T&FN: Did you compare notes on what your new situations were?

KW: No, we just talked about our races that day. We didn't even dwell on the past. We talked about, oh remember this, but after that it was just whatever whatever. Talking about graduating and stuff like that.

T&FN: Your story has been told and retold. Is there anything that we' re missing about the hurricanes and the moves or anything we're getting wrong about the story?

KW: No, not really.

T&FN: How big is your immediate family?

KW: Seven of us. My mom and six children: Chemil, Joel, Kevin, Cheryse, Karjuan and Jamie.

T&FN: Has everybody adjusted to whole thing?

KW: Yeah, well my sister Cheryse is in college; my brother Joel is in college; my brother Kevin, he's living; my brother Chemil had his own roofing company, so he went back and did that.

T&FN: Have you ever worked for him?

KW: Many times. Many times.

T&FN: How did you like it?

KW: Hated it. Liked the money.

T&FN: How many people does he have working for him?

KW: Oh, a crew of 15.

T&FN: You must be proud of him.

KW: Of course.

T&FN: Was that most of your summers working for him?

KW: Yeah, well I didn't work all the summer, but whenever I needed some money.

T&FN: And your younger sister's in New Bern. When does she graduate?

KW: 2007.

T&FN: Do you expect your family to stay in New Bern?

KW: Yeah, it's a better environment for my Mom.

T&FN: As you have said, without your Mom watching out for you and the Sparks's generosity things would certainly have been different. The exposure you had as a runner made it possible. How do you feel about being a catalyst in getting your family into a safe environment?

KW: I don't know how to say it, but it feels good that I've helped somewhere. My mom was always dishing out money when I'm going out here to track meets, giving me money when I'm going over there. It's nice to give back a little.

T&FN: What's been the most rewarding aspect of moving to New Bern, North Carolina?

KW: It has to be the coach. After a while when you've been coached by the same person for so long and you don't change training regiments, you become used to it, so you continue to do the same things. You stay at a level and never surpass that level. So by getting a new coach who knew what he was doing it helped me out a lot. I could have gotten a jerk coach who was just doing it for something to say.

T&FN: And do you also keep up with Coach Callender?

KW: Yeah. One, two, three times a week maybe.

T&FN: What do you talk about?

KW: My form and the video clips he's seen of me running lately.

T&FN: Have you gone on a lot of college visits yet?

KW: I have Arkansas on the 17th of March, gone to Baylor already. Let's see, then maybe USC, Florida. I don't even know what my fifth choice will be.

T&FN: Your brother ran 1:46 at Jackson State. Does he try to get you to go there?

KW: Yeah, all the time.

T&FN: I understand he started you on running. Can you tell me a little about that?

KW: Yeah, I was forced into it. [laughs] When my big brother went out he'd say, "Come on, Karjuan, come run with me." Oh, I want to go inside and play Nintendo.

T&FN: But he got you out. How old were you when that started?

KW: I was 9 and he was 16. For no other reason but that he wanted to be better than everybody else. He was "Like come on, man, come outside with me." Maybe, maybe.

T&FN: Did you pull your sister out and make her run like Joel did with you?

KW: No, Jamie started running in Junior High.

T&FN: And she runs for New Bern?

KW: She just did the high jump in the state meet.

T&FN: You've mentioned that Joel is a role model for you.

KW: With Joel it's that he comes from where I come from. If he can come from where I came form and still make it, I know that I can do the same thing.

T&FN: Any other role models?

KW: Well, Michael Johnson's form.

T&FN: How about Alberto Juantorena, 400/800 Olympic Champion in 1976. Jackie was telling me about how he...

KW: He put the blocks down for the 800.

T&FN: Is he a role model?

KW: No, he's a target.

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