Young Alumnus Spotlight-Harrison Williams ('10)

St. Dominic School was thrilled to welcome back to campus Olympic decathlete and alumnus Harrison Williams (’10). Through his perseverance and discipline, Harrison came in 3rd in the 2024 United States Olympic track and field trials, thereby securing his first Olympic berth and a spot on Team USA for the 2024 Paris Olympics. He finished the decathlon as the American in highest standing, placing 7th in the world. A graduate of Stanford University with a B.S. in Product Design, Harrison is an outstanding role model for our students! During his visit last week, Harrison spoke to our K-8^th grade Suns about his journey.

We also asked Harrison a few questions about St. Dominic and his experience becoming an Olympic athlete. Here is what he shared:

What is your favorite SDS memory?

My favorite SDS memory was Team Trek. Our whole class went to a camp for a few days and did team-building activities. It was so much fun!

Did you play sports at SDS? 

I played football, basketball, and baseball for St. Dominic.

Did you have a teacher/coach at SDS that impacted you and your life?

Coach Schaffler and Coach Mathis were both very impactful. They gave me confidence as an athlete and helped develop my work ethic. Mr. P (full name was Piotrowski), my English teacher, was also very influential.

What advice would you give a young athlete who is hoping to pursue their sport into high school, and beyond?

The advice I would give to a young athlete hoping to pursue athletics in high school and beyond is don’t be afraid to try everything right now. Don’t hyper-specialize in one sport too soon. You’re young and you have plenty of time to develop. Try different sports, different positions, you never know what you’ll be good at. When I was in 7th/8th grade I hated running. I never in a million years thought I would be a professional runner. But I joined the track team in 9th grade to stay in shape for basketball, and four years later I was running for Stanford and competing internationally.

How did you balance both academics and college athletics? 

Balancing academics and athletics in college was definitely a challenge, but challenges give you an opportunity to learn and improve yourself. I learned pretty quickly that I would have to be disciplined and work hard if I wanted to maintain a good GPA while still training and competing well in college. But, I had already developed a good work ethic as far back as 7th grade, so that helped. It’s important to develop good habits early, so by the time you get to college you don’t have to change much.

How did it feel to represent your country at the highest level?

It was an honor to represent the USA at the Olympics. And it meant a lot to have so many people back in Memphis cheering me on. I really didn’t realize just how many supporters I had until now. Track is an individual sport, but having a whole country behind made competing even more fun.

What was your favorite moment at the Paris Olympics?

My favorite moment from the Paris Olympics was just being out there on the track in front of 80,000 people, and millions more on TV. It was a surreal moment every time I walked through the tunnel and into the lights on the track. At most of my decathlons in my career, the stands aren’t very full. Not many people show up to watch a decathlon in person. So being able to do what I love in front of so many people was a dream come true. Usually, when I’m competing in the 9th/10th event of the decathlon I’m ready for it to be over, because I’ve been so stressed and tired for so long. But when I got to that point in the Olympic decathlon, I was a little sad because I didn’t want it to be over.