Williams wins meet in Bozeman
Derrick Williams nears the finish line at the Montana State University/Bozeman Running Company Invitational. (MSU photo by Kelly Gotham.)
Columbia Falls native Derrick Williams won one of the biggest races of his collegiate career earlier this month in Bozeman. Williams, a junior at Colorado State-Pueblo, won the 40th running of the Montana State University/Bozeman Running Company Invitational on Sept. 17.
He clocked a time of 24:30.5 in the 5-mile race, leading the Wolfpack to an overall victory in the men’s meet.
As a team, the ThunderWolves finished ahead of seven NCAA Division I teams, which included edging Utah State Unviersity. Both the Pack and Utah State recorded 57 points, but CSU-Pueblo posted a team time of 2:04:58, just 22 seconds ahead of the Aggies.
“One of the biggest most competitive meets I’ve won,” Williams said in a phone interview last week. “It was a ton of fun to come back to Montana and run with my parents there.”
He said it was also great to see his team take the title.
“We have a great team this year,” he said.
Williams graduated in 2012 from Columbia Falls High School. He is the son of Mara and Ray Williams.
In track, he’s been training in the steeplechase.
Williams is majoring in biology and had a grade point average of 3.99. He’s considering a career in medicine after spending the summer in a job shadow detail with an orthopedic surgeon.