Track and Field's Coach Joel Williams Joins Former Bulldog at European Championships

Amsterdam, NL- On August 15, 2010, UNC Asheville assistant track and field coach Joel Williams drove to Asheville Regional Airport to pick up a Serbian sprinter who would spend his first year in America as a Bulldog at Asheville. It's very likely that he didn't know that same sprinter would be waiting to pick him up in the Netherlands for the 2016 European Athletics Championships almost six years later.

Williams attended the Championships held in Amsterdam on July 6-10 as a member of the Serbian National team, coaching former Bulldog and 110-meter hurdler, Milan Ristic.

“Being in that (Championship) environment is something I enjoyed and no doubt learned from as each of these events offers such an opportunity. Another highlight was having the opportunity to see some of the current best European athletes, and also some of the legends of European track and field who are now coaches,” he said.

Ristic finished eighth overall in the Championships with a time of 13.45.

The pair have been working together on and off in the professional ranks since Ristic's entry to the field early in 2015. Williams became Ristic's official coach in the fall of 2015, with the goal of achieving the Olympic standard in the event (13.47) in time for the 2016 Olympic Games. They achieved this goal on May 14, 2016 when Ristic ran 13.39 (NR) in Clermont, Fl.

“Working with one of my former athletes in his professional career has been really enjoyable. I can learn from him and take those experiences to not only improve his future preparation but it's another opportunity for me to learn how to improve upon the preparation of the athletes at Asheville. Just as athletes can learn through experiences and repetitions of preparation so too can coaches,” said Williams.

“It's also very easy to work with him because he's so motivated to train and compete as well as he possibly can. He's also an inspiration to members of our team since he qualified for this event as well as the highest possible competition to qualify for-the Rio Olympic games.”

Williams is in his tenth year with the Bulldogs as a coach for sprints, hurdles, vertical jumps and throws. In his time at Asheville, he has developed multiple Big South Conference Champions, school record holders, NCAA Regional qualifiers and an NCAA All-America finisher.

Just this past year, Williams guided sophomore Kayli Nichols to a sixth place finish at the Big South Conference indoor Championships in the women's 60mH with a program-record time of 9.00. Outdoors, Nichols placed fourth in both the women's 100m hurdles and the women's 400m hurdles. She was also a part of the women's 4x100m relay team (Nateja Hale, Argia Gibson, Kayli Nichols, Anna Gelbach) that took 5th at the Outdoor Conference Championships with a time of 47.99.

He also coached the 4x400m relay team (Kayli Nichols, Alyssa Lashway, Argia Gibson, Anna Gelbach) earned an All-Conference finish in third with a program-best time of 3:49.89.

Williams will continue to work with Ristic as they prepare for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio De Janerio, with the first round of hurdles falling on August 15, just before he begins preparation for the 2016-17 indoor season with his athletes at Asheville.