Marissa Williams 13th at Nike Cross Nationals

Superstitious people think 13 is an unlucky number, but not Palisades High senior distance runner Marissa Williams.

On the contrary, she considers 13 her lucky number because she was born on September 13. It held even more significance following Saturday morning’s Nike Cross Nationals in Portland, Oregon, where Williams finished 13th amongst 199 of the nation’s best. Allie Ostrander from Kenai, Alaska won by seven seconds in 17:19.

“I knew there would be a ton of fast runners so I tried not to think about it but when [Pali High Coach] Bob Macias called and told me where I was ranked I was like ‘Please don’t tell me that,’” said Williams, who covered the 5K at Glendoveer Golf Course in 17:45 − second among California entrants behind Davis junior Fiona O’Keeffe, who repeated as the CIF Division I state champion a week earlier in Fresno − five seconds ahead of Williams. “There was only a five-second gap between the fifth and 14th-place runners. That’s how close it was.”

Ironically, it was O’Keeffe’s coach who calmed Williams’ nerves with words of encouragement before the race. She also got a call from Chas Davis, one of the assistant coaches at UC Berkeley, where Williams will run next fall.

“I was good for the first mile,” she said. “Fiona was running right beside me. They didn’t really give us mile marks, but the last mile was the hilliest. I didn’t know what place I got but I was happy when I found out.”

Williams ran 18:01.3 in frigid tempertatures at last year’s Nike Cross Nationals on another 5K course − Portland Meadows − and was 24th out of 198 entrants.

Weather again played a factor, only this time it wasn’t extreme cold but rather an 18-inch mud puddle directly in line with Williams’ starting box resulting from rain the previous day.

“I think I’d rather have it be cold on solid ground than have my spikes digging in the mud like that,” confessed Williams, who caught an early flight home Sunday and slept the rest of the day before turning her attention to a final exam Tuesday. “All of us on the California team just kind of bonded. It would’ve been cool to get a trophy but I’m not complaining.”

— Steve Galluzzo