June 8, 2019: Sacred Heart senior Edward Williams Jr. became the best 110-meter hurdler in New England on this date at the Thornton Academy in Saco, Maine.
Williams captured the gold medal in the 110-meter hurdles in 14.23 seconds during the 74th New England championship track and field meet. That performance completed an incredible week for Williams, who broke former Crosby star Tony Ortiz’s 1995 record of 14.15 with his gold medal-winning run of 14.03 in the 110-meter hurdles at the State Open on June 3 at Willow Brook Park in New Britain.
Williams began his dominant run with a record-breaking effort in the 110-meter hurdles at the Class S state meet on May 30 at Willow Brook Park. He won gold in 14.28, shattering the 2009 mark of 14.54 run by Old Saybrook’s Rodrigo Souza. Williams nearly broke Souza’s in the preliminaries, when he ran 14.56 on the way to the top seed in the final.
On May 21, Williams won the 110-meter hurdles in 14.43 at the NVL championship meet, which was held at Torrington High School’s Robert Frost Complex. Williams didn’t break Ortiz’s 1995 record of 14.30 that day, but the NVL win was the start of something special for the standout hurdler.
Here is my story about Williams’ New England performance. It includes other local athletes who finished in the Top 10 in New England.
