Williamson empowered by hard work and faith

Sprinter Damean Williamson, 20, is no stranger to hard work. The Jamaican born athlete arrived in The United States late last year and has already set a record as the fastest freshmen sprinter out of all the junior colleges in Northern California.

Williamson managed an impressive time of 10.71 seconds in the 100-meter sprint at the Delta Mustang Invite on April 6. He currently sits one place behind Sophomore Diondre Batson from American River College in this season’s performance list.

Williamson has been participating in competitive track since he was 9 years old.  He attended Camperdown High School, also known as “The Sprint Factory”, located in Kingston, Jamaica.

While at Camperdown, Williamson was part of the 4×100-meter relay team that won the Penn Relay. He was also coined Eastern Jamaican Champion in the 100-meters for two consecutive years.

After graduating high school, Williamson decided to move to the U.S. Despite having no family members on the west coast, he decided to run track at FCC.

Williamson credits his decision, in part, to California’s climate.

Williamson was also impressed with FCC sprint coach, Robert Foster. “When I found out the coach is also Jamaican and a past Olympian that motivated me to come here,” he said.

Williamson speaks fondly of Foster. “He’s a champion. He’s a good person. He takes the time out to work with us,” Williamson said. “That helps motivate me; when you have someone that is experienced telling you the right thing to do.”

He says some of his fellow teammates helped him adjust to a new country. “Donnell Love is one of the teammates that helped me fit in,” Williamson said. “He is a very good guy. He respects the Jamaican culture.”

Williamson gets along with all of his teammates and enjoys their humor. “It’s funny. I’ll say something in Jamaican and they don’t understand it and they’ll just laugh. It’s a very fun time being around them,” said Williamson. “They are very supportive. They motivate you in training when you can’t do the workouts. They encourage you—we encourage each other.”

Currently, Williamson is training roughly six days a week, at least two and a half hours per day. He believes that some people are unaware of how much practice comes with being on a track team. “Some people don’t realize the input we put in,” he said. “They just see you on competition day and say ‘oh, you’re good’, but they don’t really know what you do.”

Williams looks at the challenges that he faces with a positive attitude. He says he looks forward to the days where he doesn’t have the energy to practice. He believes persevering through that feeling and continuing to practice is a true achievement. “Those are the days you cannot go with your emotion and say ‘oh, I don’t feel like working out’. You have to get up and go,” Williamson said.

Williamson says that talent plays only a small part in success in athletics and that hard work is more important. “As a kid I knew that I was fast,” he said. “I used to beat everybody in the race. I also know that those people that weren’t as fast as me, some of them are faster now. They are better than me. It’s not really about talent. I think it’s just hard work at the end of the day.”

While he loves track, Williamson is equally dedicated to his education. “I do believe in life after track and field, so I am trying to get into a good university and finish my degree,” he said. Williamson is majoring in business administration and has taken his dedication from the track and is using it to excel in his studies.

“You have to go out and do it (work hard)—both on and off the track,” he said. “If you don’t train hard you’re not gonna win. You’re not gonna get good grades if you don’t study hard. That helped me; to know that if you work hard at something you will achieve.”

Williamson is proud of the hard work he has put in, but he ultimately credits God for the success he has had this year. “I give all my success to God,” he said. “I know coaches play a part in it, but I just give God thanks for whatever he has done for me and whatever he has in store for me.”