In her first race of the NCAA cross country season, California sophomore Marissa Williams placed sixth in the 6,000 meters in 21:13.7, two spots behind the Golden Bears’ top finisher Bethan Knights (21:02.8), at the San Francisco Invitational on Saturday in Golden Gate Park.
Williams had a stellar freshman year in both cross country and track at UC Berkeley, earning All-Conference cross country honors after a collegiate-best 20:24.0 at the Pac-12 Championships in the fall, then taking first place in the 5,000 meters in a personal-best 16:19.35 at the Payton Jordan Invitational and sixth place in the same event at the Pac-12 Outdoor Track & Field Championships in the spring. She ran the mile in 4:46.87 to finish ninth at the MPSF Indoor Championships in February.
A 2015 Palisades High graduate, Williams won the Post Cup Award as the Dolphins’ outstanding senior athlete. She was a three-time City Section individual cross country champion and four-time City champion in the 1,600 and 3,200 meters.
As a junior, she became the first female in City history to sweep the 800, 1,600 and 3,200 races at the City finals meet.
— Steve Galluzzo
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