Former Nansemond River High School standout and Longwood University freshman Casey Williams is impressing on the course.

It has not taken Williams long to start making a name for herself at Longwood. At Nansemond River, she was a standout for the cross country program. She reached the state meet twice and broke the school record for 5K with a time of 20:42. She set the bar high for Warriors cross country and earned team MVP for three years.

Williams has picked up at Longwood right where she left off. Williams is currently the top runner on the women’s team. Last Saturday in a Big South Conference meet in Lynchburg, Williams finished as the top runner for the women’s team for that meet. She placed 34th overall but set a personal best of 22:20.8. Williams admits that prior to the season, she had no idea that she could be possibly be leading the women’s cross country team.

“Coming in, I had not the slightest clue that it would be a possibility for me to lead the women’s team so early,” she said. “I was just focused on settling into being a student-athlete and getting used to the new ways I was training.”

Even with her team-leading performance last weekend, Williams is still not satisfied. She wants to take that performance and look at ways she can improve on it. Each race she just wants to continue to run faster.

Longwood’s first race took place earlier this month at James Madison University. Williams described her first race as “super exciting.” She didn’t know quite what to expect, as it was her first time running against collegiate athletes. From her first meet to her second meet last weekend in Lynchburg, she took two minutes off of her time. That course will be the course for conference meets. Now that Williams knows what to expect in college meets, she will be looking to run even better the next time.

She gives credit to her coaches for their training that has led to her being successful so early. They are always there for her whenever she needs help.

“Our training has been great, and without them, I don’t think I would be where I am so early in the season.”

Williams will be participating in her next meet Oct. 13 in High Point, N.C.