Micah Williams To Miss Oregon State Meet While Resting Ankle

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

Micah Williams, Oregon's standout high school sprinter, will miss next week's state meet. 

The Benson Tech junior, who ran a wind-legal 10.21 seconds May 3 for the fastest time ever by a West coast prep sprinter, has inflammation in his left foot and ankle. His doctor told him that he should stay off it for a couple of weeks so that it can recover. 

"I think I ran too many races and my ankle has some inflammation," Williams said. "I should be able to run again soon, but I'm following my doctor's instructions. It just happened at the wrong time for me to compete at state."

Benson coach Leon McKenzie said the ankle became sore due to the accumulated stress of workouts and races this season. Williams began racing indoor meets in January. 

Williams attended the Portland Interscholastic League district meet Wednesday and attempted to run on the foot in the 100-meter prelims. He ran 11.03 and immediately took off his spike to relieve the pain. 

He scratched the 200, an event where he broke the Oregon high school record with 21.03 seconds at the Arcadia Invitational in April. 

He didn't run in Friday's 100-meter finals.

"No one wants to be greedy and sacrifice a kid," McKenzie said. "We let that decision (Friday) to be his. He decided he didn't want to run on it, and it was the right call. There's no need to rush it. Pushing it would have been (for the sake) of everybody else, and not him."

Williams and his coaches will have time to reassess their postseason goals in a couple of weeks.