University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Track and Field
- Title:
- Head Track & Field Coach
- Email:
- jwilliam@unca.edu
- Phone:
- 251-6595
“By the Numbers”
3 Olympic/world championship athletes
1 NCAA indoor championship competitor
1 NCAA indoor All-American
4 NCAA preliminary round qualifications
2 national record holders (Serbia, St. Lucia)
10 Big South individual champions
3 Relay champions
36 Big South All-Conference performers
2 UNC Asheville Athletes of the Year (1 female, 1 male)
21 school records
4 NCHSAA 4A state girls team track & field champions
14 NCHSAA 4A champions
Joel Williams recently wrapped up year fifteen as a track and field coach for UNC Asheville-his second as head coach. He oversees the sprints/hurdles/relays group and develops their strength training programs.
He coached 110m hurdler Milan Ristic, who competed in the 2016 Rio Olympics and the 2015 & 2017 world championships. In 2016, Ristic set a Serbian national record of 13.39.
In 2022 sprint school records were set for men’s 100m (10.35) and 200m (20.87) by Jalen Anderson;400m-Bryson Riddick (47.68); 4x100m relay team (40.49) Akin Williams, Jalen Anderson, Denley Joseph, Anthony Mason; 4x400m relay (3:11.59) Mason, Anderson, Joseph, Riddick.
Conference championship winners:
Meredith Foster-Ristic: 2014 Big South indoor high jump-holds indoor and outdoor school records.
Anna Gelbach: 2013 400m leg of DMR. School record holder 4x400m relay-outdoor.
Sarah Gentry: 2011-2012 and 2012-2013- 2x indoor 800m, 2x 800m outdoors, 1x 1500m, and 800m leg on DMR champion 2013. School record holder indoor/outdoor 800m and 1500m.
Milan Ristic: 2011-2012 and 2012-2013; 2x 60m hurdles, 2x 110m hurdles, 2x NCAA preliminary round qualifier, 1x NCAA indoor national qualifier, 1x All American. School records: 60m, 60m H, 110m H, 200m indoors.
Men’s 4x400m relay team: Anthony Mason, Akin Williams, Isaac Teasley, Bryson Riddick-2021 Big South outdoor championships
Coached school record holder in men's javelin throw Simon Haake, a former walk-on student athlete who qualified twice for the NCAA Division I East Preliminary Round (top 48). He finished 21st in 2011.
Before Asheville, Williams coached at Watauga High School. Watauga captured three straight state girls’ outdoors titles and won the 1997 girls’ indoor championship.
Former Watauga athletes whose careers Williams influenced achieved noteworthy success post high school:
Brenda Taylor: 2001 NCAA 400mH Champion (Harvard); 7th place for team USA in the 2004 Athens Olympics-set PR 53.36 at the USOT-time was #5 in the world. Taylor also earned a bronze medal in the U.S. 4x400m at the 2003 World Indoor Championships. Williams created her post collegiate strength program.
Lindsay Taylor: For Watauga HS, high jumped 5-11.5 PR, finished 2nd at USATF Junior Nationals, 4th at Pan Am Junior Championships-ranked 3rd in the U.S. in 1997 by Track & Field News. In college (Brown) was 2x heptathlon qualifier at NCAA championships.
Abraham Morlu: Competed for Liberia on 4x100m relay team at the Sydney 2000 Olympics and the 2001/2003 World Championships.
Williams is a 2004 graduate of Appalachian State with a B.S. in Health Promotion, Exercise Science and Sociology.
Coaching certifications:
IAAF (now World Athletics) Level 5 Sprints/Hurdles
USATF Level 3 Coach in Sprints/Hurdles
USATF Level 2 Throws, Sprints/Hurdles
USATF Level 1
USTFCCCA Sprint, Hurdle and Relay Event Specialist
USTFCCCA Combined Event Specialist
USTFCCCA Speed Specialist
USTFCCCA Strength and Conditioning Coach
USA Weightlifting Level II Advanced Sports Performance Coach
USA Weightlifting Level I-Club Coach (Now Sports Performance Coach)
