Even Marissa Williams’ mother was surprised to discover her daughter could run this well. Now a sophomore running sensation at Palisades High, Williams was part of the Paul Revere Middle School after-school program when her mother, Flecia, approached physical education teacher Paul Foxson. ‘I knew she was running but I thought it was no big deal,’ Flecia said. ‘But it would be like, ‘Marissa won the race,’ ‘Marissa broke the record.’ So I talked to Mr. Foxson and asked if she was really that good and he said, ‘There’s good, and then there’s your daughter.’ As it turns out, Williams was only scratching the surface. At last year’s City track and field finals, she won the 1600- and 3200-meter races with times of 5:06 and 11:20, respectively, and Pali won the girls team title. Williams said her goal this year is to break the five-minute mark and reach the State finals again. Still, Williams, who stands just 5’3′, remains extremely humble about her successes at such an early stage in her high school career. ‘I want to break the five-minute mile, and in cross country get a better time and reach State, but I don’t think much about it,’ Williams said. ‘People around me make a bigger deal out of it than I do. For me, it’s like, ‘Okay, cool.’ In cross country last year, Williams placed sixth in the City finals with a time of 19:02 and was 75th at State with a 19:22 mark. Already this season, on September 7, she set a sophomore division record at the Seaside Invitational in Ventura with a time of 16:55, which is the third-fastest time ever at the event. Eight days later at the Woodbridge Invitational in Costa Mesa, Williams placed 12th with a time of 17:08, then on September 22 set a sophomore record at the Bell-Jeff Invitational at Griffith Park with a 16:47 as the PaliHi girls team placed third overall. ‘She’s been amazing from the very first moment I saw her practice in track,’ PaliHi cross-country coach Bob Macias said. ‘With all the speed work she does and her dedication, she’s just at another level. She’s a natural talent, but a lot of times natural talent doesn’t want to do extra. She does extra. She goes home and doesn’t stop.’ Indeed, Williams takes work home to her Baldwin Hills residence, running an additional 12 miles daily on weekends and two to three miles on weeknights following practice. Her mother usually drops her off on the ride home and lets her run the rest of the way to get her training in. For Williams, the sport serves as both a passion and an escape. ‘It kind of clears your mind and relaxes you,’ she said. ‘You don’t have to think much about anything or worry about anyone else, you just run. But you also are going for your team, as well as running for yourself.’ In her youth, Williams played AYSO soccer as well as club soccer for two years, often playing the midfield position because of her range and her ability to run. Though her ability to shine on the track didn’t become clear until middle school, her competitive drive was always there. ‘She gets her drive and determination from me and my husband,’ Flecia Williams said, referring to Marissa’s father Ransom, an engineer. ‘Neither of us like to lose. She always says she’d rather be 1,000th than number two because if you’re number two it doesn’t matter, as long as you’re not number one. She’s got that same drive as us.’ Neither of her parents ran track, but Ransom played baseball in high school and her brother Brandon ran when he was younger. Hoping to receive a scholarship to a prestigious university as well as run at the college level, Williams is currently taking AP world history and three honors courses at Palisades High ‘ pre-calculus, chemistry and Spanish 2. She admits she still feels the pressure running races because of the increased expectations that have been placed on her. ‘I get nervous,’ she said. ‘I got nervous when I played AYSO because I was one of the better players on the team, so they always expected me to make every single goal, and if we didn’t win it was always on me.’ PaliHi’s next cross-country race is today against Venice at 2:30 p.m. at Pierce College, followed by the Clovis Invitational this Friday and Saturday at Woodward Park in Fresno.
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