Edison's Williams leaps to state runner-up

DAYTON — Trayvon Williams took one last leap at a state title and gave it everything he had. His landing spot looked, maybe, to be enough. In the end, the laser measurement system marked it two inches short. But there's no such thing as settling for state runner-up. For the first-time state placer, that too goes down as an incredible feat. "It sounds pretty good to me," Williams said. "I tried to take it home for Milan, but I like second." Williams' last jump was his best, 21 feet and 11.25 inches. It was just behind Toledo Central Catholic's Victor Singleton (22-0.5) in the Division II long jump competition. The Edison senior had three of Friday's four-best leaps. "My sophomore year, I wasn't confident in myself," Williams said. "I really worked on that last year, got confident in myself, made it to state. This year, I just tried to get it all." Williams began the long jump as a sophomore, then made his first state trip as a junior, and he admits now that the stage overwhelmed him a bit. He was a 2023 regional champion but couldn't get out of prelims at the state meet. "I think last year, I came in to the state meet really flustered and kind of stressed," Williams said. "It's everybody from the state, everybody's watching you." This time around, Williams didn't jump as well at regionals. He still came in as the third seed in the event, though, and had already reached 22-5 multiple times this season. No jumper made it to that distance Friday, leaving the competition a bit wide open. Williams went 21-7.25 and 21-10.25 on his first two jumps, which had him in the lead at the end of preliminary jumping. He held that lead through five rounds. "I was consistent all year," Williams said. "Today, I really tried to work on getting up there, getting my height up there." Singleton leaped his winning jump when Williams was away from the pit, getting ready to run the anchor leg of the 4x100 prelims. When Williams came back, he had two attempts all by himself to try and claim the state championship. The first came up well short, but after another brief break, Williams sprinted down the runway and took flight one final time. It was as good a jump as one could've asked for in the high-pressure spot, but the sand didn't quite fall his way. "The speed was there," Williams said. "I was just confident, getting it there." Williams had a busy Friday. He ran the open 200, just missing the final. He was also joined by Josiah Bryant, Trevor Leimeister and Aiden Reeder in the 4x1 — that group came to state seeded 18th but placed 11th in 43.52 seconds. "Coming down with the 4x1 team really boosted my confidence," Williams said. "They definitely helped me get in the right mindset, helped them get in the right mindset." Williams wrote his name in Edison history on the final day of his high school athletic career. Graduation is still to come on Sunday afternoon, and then that'll be it for the Chargers great — one with the composure and smile to match his incredible talent. He made his hometown proud. "I'm just gonna remember it as a great year," Williams said.