Leaping over a series of four-foot barriers doesn’t pose
much of a challenge for UCLA’s Ysanne Williams anymore.
Not after the hurdles she’s already cleared this year.
After undergoing surgery on both of her ankles in July, Williams
was not sure she could recuperate in time to make an impact in her
senior season. But despite the nagging doubts, Williams persevered.
And after finishing second in the 400-meter hurdles Sunday at the
Pac-10 Championships, it appears that effort is finally paying
off.
“I crossed the finish line, and I just smiled,”
Williams said. “There were times where I thought this track
thing wouldn’t work out for me, but it’s slowly coming
back together.”
This track thing certainly hasn’t been a smooth ride for
Williams over the past 12 months.
After a productive first three years as a Bruin in which she
earned All-American honors five times, the versatile Williams was
hit with adversity for the first time in her career. She sustained
stress fractures in both ankles early in the 2002 season ““ a
setback that started a chain of events that kept her out of action
for more than a full year.
What ultimately but a lot of tension and stress on her ankle
joints was Williams choice to wear orthotics in both her shoes. By
the time doctors discovered the source of the problem in July,
Williams had no other choice but to have surgery on both ankles to
remove the scar tissue that had built up.
“It was a mistake that could have happened to
anybody,” said Williams, who also underwent precautionary
arthroscopic knee surgery earlier this season. “It was really
frustrating. It took a very long time to get my ankles right and my
knee back.”
Nine months to be exact.
After enduring hours of strenuous rehab each week, Williams
finally returned to the track in April, competing individually for
the first time at the USC dual meet on April 26.
Williams ran the 400m hurdles for the first time this season
less than two weeks ago at the Occidental Invitational, completing
the race with a sluggish time of 1:00.69 ““ more than three
seconds slower than her personal record.
But despite the setback, Williams remained optimistic as she
knew that the race was merely a dress rehearsal for the upcoming
Pac-10 meet.
“I wasn’t ready for Occidental at all,”
Williams said. “I just wanted to get the feel of the race
under my belt so when Pac-10’s came, I could execute a little
better.”
The strategy worked.
Williams won her heat in the prelims on Saturday with a
season-best mark of 58.35 seconds. A day later, she shaved nearly
another full second off that time, capturing second place behind
teammate Sheena Johnson with a time of 57.67 seconds.
“That was definitely big for us to go one-two,”
Johnson said. “This is Ysanne’s second time running in
the 400-meter hurdles. To see her really come in and run so well is
really good.”
Williams’ mark ““ the 11th fastest in the nation this
year ““ far exceeded her expectations for herself. She had
originally hoped to approach her personal best (57.34 seconds) by
the end of the season, but now has re-evaluated her goal.
“Now I think there is a possibility I could run in the
55-second range,” Williams said. “If I can do that,
I’ll definitely score points at the NCAA meet (next
month).”
The fastest 400m hurdle mark in the nation this year (54.60)
belongs to Raasin McIntosh of Texas, but if Williams can achieve
her goals, she will likely be among the top five ““ quite an
achievement for someone who had not competed in over a year.
“I’d be very excited,” Williams said.
Undoubtedly, so would the rest of the Bruins.