Possessing the talent and attitude of a National Champion,Amanda Williamson brings a wealth of experience to the KingUniversity track & field and cross country programs. She entersher second season as the head men's and women's track & fieldcoach and her fifth season as an assistant for the men’s andwomen’s cross country teams. While knowledgeable in all areasof both sports, Williamson specializes in middle distance and relayevents while also coaching those competing in jumps andhurdles.
Williamson helped guide the Tornado women's cross country teamto their second straight Conference Carolinas title and sixth placefinish at the NCAA Southeast Regional. She helped coach Hannah Wittto winning the individual Conference Carolinas and NCAA SoutheastRegional championships en route to finishing 50th at the NCAANational Cross Country Championships. On the men's side, theTornado finished second at both the Conference Carolinas and NCAASoutheast Championships en route to finishing 29th at the NCAANational Cross Country Championships.
As an assistant in 2012-13, Williamson helped Dalon lead theKing women's cross country, indoor and outdoor track & fieldConference Carolinas championships. Following the indoor season,Williamson was named USTFCCCA Southeast Region Assistant Coach ofthe Year after helping 12 student-athletes earn All-Region honors.On the men's side, the Tornado won their first Conference Carolinaschampionship when they captured the indoor title. Seven members ofthe men's team earned all-conference and All-Region honors whilethe team won the Conference Carolinas Team Sportsmanshipaward. During the outdoor season, Jeremy Stamper was namedField Athlete of the Year on the men's side while Meagan Henryearned the same honor on the women's side. The women had fiveindoor individual conference champions and 20 all-conferenceperformers with 12 earning All-Region accolades. The women also had10 all-conference performers during the outdoor season.
She helped lead the men's cross country team to their first NCAADivision II National Championhship appearance where the Tornadoplaced 27th after finishing third at the NCAA Southeast Regional.Three men's cross country runners were named All-Region whileJordan Noe earned Conference Carolinas Runner of the Year honors.On the women's side, Kendra Sokol earned All-Region honors whilefive member were named all-conference.
Alongside Head Coach Peter Dalton, Williamson helped both themen’s and women’s track & field teams finish insidethe top-3 at the 2012 Conference Carolinas Championships duringtheir first season as a league member. She helped train theconference champion 4x100 men’s relay team that broke aConference Champion record while helping the team to a second placefinish. Earlier in the season, Jordan Noe set a school record andqualified for USA Junior Nationals in the 3,000-meter steeplechasebefore taking the conference championship in the event atseason’s end. Twelve athletes were named to theAll-Conference Team following the Championships, five to the FirstTeam and seven to the Second Team.
With Williamson’s guidance, Shelbie Burchfield hit theNCAA qualifying mark in the women’s high jump twice in asingle season and witnessed her win a conference championship inthe event, along with Tia Kiett in the women’s long jump.Keitt also set a new school record in the event earlier in the2011-12 season. Four athletes named to the First TeamAll-Conference Team while an additional three were placed on theSecond Team.
On the cross country side, Williamson’s runners brokeschool records including Spencer Frantom’s record-setting 8krun at the 2011 Clemson Open. As the Track & Field teams did inthe Spring, both Cross Country squads finished in the top-3 at theConference Championships and advanced to the NCAA Division IISoutheast Regional Championships.
Williamson’s athletes are all over their respectivepostseason awards lists. All in all, she watched 53 track &field All-Region honors handed out to her indoor and outdoor teamsin 2011-12 while 21 athletes were placed on the AcademicAll-Conference Team. Cross Country featured four AcademicAll-Conference players and five All-Region honorees to add to theirnational recognition as a 2011 Scholar Team that hosted fourplayers named to the National All-Academic Team.
In 2010-11, Williamson helped King Women’s Cross Countryreach NCAA Division II Nationals after winning the regionalchampionship that season, finished 22nd overall in thecountry.
Williamson competed at an incredibly high level while astudent-athlete at King where was a three-time NCCAA NationalChampion in her specialty, the 400-meter dash. As a senior in 2010,she won the NCCAA indoor and outdoor National Championship in the400 meters before also sharing the title in the 4x100m outdoorrelay event. In 2009 she broke the school record in the 400m andwas named a NAIA All-American with a time of 54.84. She was alsonamed a NCCAA All-American for her performances in the 55-meter and200-meter dashes, and the 4x400m relay.
