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Williams, Morgan into USTFCCCA D2 Hall of Fame

Published:Monday | April 20, 2020 | 12:19 AMHubert Lawrence/Gleaner Writer
Jamaica’s Danielle Williams after completing Heat Three of the women’s 100m hurdles at the World Athletics Championships in Doha, Qatar, on Saturday, October 5, 2019.
Jamaica’s Danielle Williams after completing Heat Three of the women’s 100m hurdles at the World Athletics Championships in Doha, Qatar, on Saturday, October 5, 2019.

Sprint hurdler Danielle Williams and 400m hurdles exponent Dinsdale Morgan have been inducted into the US Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Division Two Hall of Fame. Williams, who distinguished herself at Johnson C. Smith University, and Morgan, who had two great years at Pittsburg State, are among a half a dozen persons being inducted this year.

Now retired, Morgan was a standout at St Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS) before he attended junior college and then Pittsburg State. Excellent in 1996, Morgan was the runner-up in the indoor 400m and then won the 400m hurdles outdoor title. The former STETHS star was an Olympian twice for Jamaica and won the 1998 Commonwealth Games title in the hurdles.

At the conference level, Morgan twice won the difficult 400m/400m hurdles double. Indoors, he was the 400m winner twice and even found time to take the 200m in 1996.

Seventh in both the 1997 and 1999 World Championships, the Hall of Fame inductee is the sixth-fastest Jamaican 400m man of all time at 48.13 seconds.

Like Morgan, Williams starred in the NCAA Division Two ranks. Between 2013 and 2014, Williams won eight individual NCAA titles, 11 individual conference titles, and was named USTFCCCA National Women’s Indoor Track and Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year three times.

GREATEST PERFORMANCE

The former Queens School star turned in arguably the greatest two-day performance in the NCAA Division Two history at the 2013 NCAA Division Two Championships in Pueblo, Colorado. The tall Jamaican sped to success in the 100m, 200m, and 4×100m relay, as well as a runner-up finish in the 100m hurdles.

In 2015, she added international accolades to her track transcript with 100m hurdles titles at the World University Games and the World Athletics Championship.

Williams is the third athlete from Johnson C. Smith inducted into the USTFCCCA NCAA Division Two Track and Field Athlete Hall of Fame in the past four years. Arriving ahead of her were compatriot Leford Green (Class of 2017) and her sister, Shermaine Williams (Class of 2018).