The Opinion-Tribune's 2022-2023 Female Athlete of the Year: East Mills' Emily Williams

Something to Smile About

There are 15,000 fans in the stands at Drake Stadium and Emily Williams has just won a gold medal at the Iowa State Track and Field meet.           

And she’s barely cracked a smile.

Williams didn’t run over to the rail or jump up and down or become overwhelmed with emotion and fall to the blue track after winning the 100-meter hurdles. The East Mills graduate simply walked back toward the athlete area off the track.

“People told me I didn’t have the greatest reaction,” Williams said. “I guess I just sort of smiled and walked off. That was it.”

Williams admits she doesn’t get caught up in individual accolades. The gold medal was indeed big for her – but her humility wouldn’t let her get too carried away.

“I didn’t know if I had won at first, so I had to look at the scoreboard,” she said. “I saw that I did, and it didn’t really sink in at first. It did sink in after a while and I felt really accomplished.”

Williams knows a little about accomplished. The four-sport star earned All-Corner Conference honors in volleyball, basketball and softball – to go with her state track gold medals – her senior year.

Williams is The Opinion-Tribune’s 2022-2023 Female Athlete of the Year.

That track gold medal put Williams in rare territory in East Mills athletics. She is the school’s first gold medalist since 2018 and she joins Janette Schraft and Nick Pittmon as the only Wolverines to ever win gold.

Williams added an eighth-place finish in the 400-meter hurdles and a 14th place finish in the 100-meters, while also running the anchor leg on the 4x400-meter relay in Des Moines.

“It definitely feels great considering I didn’t get to run track my first two years,” she said, referencing the knee injuries that curtailed both her freshman and sophomore seasons. “Not having done hurdles as much, winning felt amazing.”

The start to Williams’ athletic career, indeed didn’t always go smoothly. Injuries nagged her freshman year, and she tore her ACL during her sophomore season. The injury was devastating. She’s not used to being inactive for any extended period of time. But true to form, she beat the doctor’s prognosis.

“It took a while to feel like myself, but I got back ahead of time. They said nine months and I was back in seven months. It took a few games of playing volleyball before I got back to hitting and jumping like I was before. It was hard to sit out, but I got good at cheering my team on and helping out that way.”

Williams came back to earn All-Corner Conference honors in both basketball and volleyball her junior and senior seasons.

She stopped short of saying she’s a better athlete post-knee injury, but she does feel like the time and rehab strengthened her legs, and her resolve to compete.

“I’m stronger in my one leg since we worked so much on getting my one leg back, but not only am I stronger in that one leg, my other leg is too because we also worked on getting that one stronger. It’s helped me out in every sport.”

Williams gives a lot of the gold medal credit to track coach Claude Lang. The Wolverines’ long-time coach pushed and prodded the natural athlete to take up hurdles following her injury – even when others doubted the prospect.

“He taught me a lot and we got along great, and he always had my best interest in mind,” she said.

“She is one tough individual,” Lang said of Williams. “To go through two knee surgeries, rehab them both, and still be able to perform at a championship level during her junior and senior years is remarkable. I was given a lot of flak for even entertaining the idea that she could be a hurdler. But she put in the time and the work to succeed and get herself a few state medals.”

Lang has watched Williams develop her skills throughout the years – as a coach and an observer. He calls her a “quiet assassin.” As far as athleticism and competitive fire, only a handful of athletes Lang has coached compares to Williams.

“She isn’t going to be super vocal in her leadership, other girls took on that role, but she did an amazing job of leading by example, “sucking it up” and doing what is best for the team, and herself,” Lang said. “I would say, her results speak for themselves.”

Those results are indeed impressive.

Williams wrapped up her fifth softball season this summer hitting .375 as the Wolverines’ shortstop. In basketball she averaged nearly a double-double (16.7 points and 9.9 rebounds) and also led the team in blocks and steals and was second in assists. Her 1,287 points and 723 career rebounds are both school records.

In volleyball she led back-to-back Corner Conference champion Wolverines with 475 kills. Her 1,149 kills in her career are a school record.

Last Spring, she signed to continue her volleyball career at Simpson College, over Central College. She mulled offers from Central College and Wayne State College in volleyball and a Peru State in basketball.

There was a time when Williams considered basketball, not volleyball, her future. That changed her senior year on a tight-knit Wolverine squad.

“Basketball was always my No. 1 but then I figured out I had more fun in volleyball,” she said. “I love the atmosphere, the yelling, the cheering – it just makes it a lot more fun.”

She first started in volleyball and basketball as a kindergartener and joined the East Mills Area Youth Sports (EMAYS) program in the third grade. She’s been competing year-round in those two sports as well as track and softball ever since.

“But basketball was always my favorite,” she said.

Giving up the hardwood wasn’t easy. But she hasn’t let go completely.

“I know I want to keep playing, even if it is just intramurals,” she said.

Since the completion of the softball season, Williams has turned her considerable attention to volleyball. Working out daily in preparation for her freshman season at Simpson.

 “I loved the small campus and I met with the coach, and I felt he was a great fit for me, and I liked his coaching style,” Williams said of Simpson and head coach Kekailoa Palea. “I just felt like I fit great there.”

Williams played mostly in the middle as a freshman at East Mills but slid over to the left side as a sophomore and never gave up the spot her final three varsity seasons. She hopes to track a similar path at Simpson. She knows she’s smallish for a hitter – 5-foot-8 – but feels she more than makes up for it with bouncy leaping ability and long arms.

“It motivates me a little bit that people might overlook me for my height, but I’ve always been told I can jump. So, knowing I have that too, it helps me out when I play.”

Is that enough to get Williams in the Storm’s lineup this season?

“The coaches are excited to have me,” she said. “I’m not for sure, but I know I want to play.”

That’s a prospect that is certain to make her smile.

“She is one tough individual,” Lang said of Williams. “To go through two knee surgeries, rehab them both, and still be able to perform at a championship level during her junior and senior years is remarkable. I was given a lot of flak for even entertaining the idea that she could be a hurdler. But she put in the time and the work to succeed and get herself a few state medals.”

Lang has watched Williams develop her skills throughout the years – as a coach and an observer. He calls her a “quiet assassin.” As far as athleticism and competitive fire, only a handful of athletes Lang has coached compares to Williams.

“She isn’t going to be super vocal in her leadership, other girls took on that role, but she did an amazing job of leading by example, “sucking it up” and doing what is best for the team, and herself,” Lang said. “I would say, her results speak for themselves.”

Those results are indeed impressive.

Williams wrapped up her fifth softball season this summer hitting .375 as the Wolverines’ shortstop. In basketball she averaged nearly a double-double (16.7 points and 9.9 rebounds) and also led the team in blocks and steals and was second in assists. Her 1,287 points and 723 career rebounds are both school records.

In volleyball she led the back-to-back Corner Conference champion Wolverines with 475 kills. Her 1,149 kills in her career are a school record.

Last Spring, she signed to continue her volleyball career at Simpson College, over Central College. She mulled offers from Central College and Wayne State College in volleyball and a Peru State in basketball.

There was a time when Williams considered basketball, not volleyball, her future. That changed her senior year on a tight-knit Wolverine squad.

“Basketball was always my No. 1 but then I figured out I had more fun in volleyball,” she said. “I love the atmosphere, the yelling, the cheering – it just makes it a lot more fun.”

She first started playing volleyball and basketball as a kindergartener and joined the East Mills Area Youth Sports (EMAYS) program in the third grade. She’s been competing year-round in those two sports as well as track and softball ever since.

“But basketball was always my favorite,” she said.

Giving up the hardwood wasn’t easy. But she hasn’t let go completely.

“I know I want to keep playing, even if it is just intramurals,” she said.

Since the completion of the softball season, Williams has turned her considerable attention to volleyball. Working out daily in preparation for her freshman season at Simpson.

“I loved the small campus and I met with the coach, and I felt he was a great fit for me, and I liked his coaching style,” Williams said of Simpson and head coach Kekailoa Palea. “I just felt like I fit great there.”

Williams played mostly in the middle as a freshman at East Mills but slid over to the left side as a sophomore and never gave up the spot her final three varsity seasons. She hopes to track a similar path at Simpson. She knows she’s smallish for a hitter – 5-foot-8 – but feels she more than makes up for it with bouncy leaping ability and long arms.

“It motivates me a little bit that people might overlook me for my height, but I’ve always been told I can jump. So, knowing I have that too, it helps me out when I play.”

Is that enough to get Williams in the Storm’s lineup this season?

“The coaches are excited to have me,” she said. “I’m not for sure, but I know I want to play.”

That’s a prospect that is certain to make her smile.