Columbia Track & Field announced, on July 19, 2021, the hiring of Amber Williams as Assistant Coach/Sprints, Hurdles & Relays. who’s official title will be Assistant Coach/Sprints, Hurdles & Relays,
Williams joined Columbia after spending the previous two seasons at the helm of the Cleveland State Women’s Track & Field program. Her time at Cleveland State was successful as she coached Anna Brandt to a Horizon League Outdoor championship in the 800m, and she had eight student athletes set 12 school records, to go along with the 4x400m Relay team’s Indoor school record.
Prior to her time at Cleveland State, Williams spent four seasons with Colgate following a four-year stint at Ball State University.
During her time with the Raiders, Williams was responsible for all aspects of the cross country and track and field programs, leading six student-athletes to set nine program records. Throughout Williams’ tenure, the Raiders have also been successful in the classroom, as the women’s cross country and track and field teams earned the 2017 Colgate Women’s Team Academic Excellence Award, and four student-athletes have been named Patriot League All-Academic selections.
Prior to her three seasons leading the program, Williams spent one year as the assistant men’s and women’s track and field coach at Colgate.
Williams got her start in collegiate coaching as an assistant at Ball State – her alma mater – spending four years as the sprints, hurdles and horizontal jumps coach. During her time on the sidelines, Williams guided Thekla Lorenz to the 2012 Mid-American Heptathlon title, helping her become the first-ever Cardinal to claim MAC championships in both the Pentathlon and Heptathlon events.
As a Division I student-athlete herself, Williams captured eight Mid-American Conference titles, was named the Mid-American Conference MVP three times and finished her career as the Ball State record holder in the 60 Meter Hurdles and 100 Meter Hurdles. Williams was also a two-time All-MAC selection, and advanced to the 2007 NCAA Outdoor Championships and 2009 NCAA Indoor Championships.
As an NCAA All-American and Olympic Trials Qualifier, Williams was inducted into the Ball State University Athletics Hall of Fame in February of 2019, becoming just the third member of the women’s track and field team to earn the distinction.
A native of Fort Wayne, Ind., Williams graduated with a Bachelor of General Studies with a concentration in Psychology from Ball State in 2009 and went on to earn a Master of Sport Science from the United States Sports Academy in 2013.
