Updated August 15, 2018
LeRon Williams was named the men’s and women’s cross country, and women’s track and field assistant coach at Wayne State University in September of 2015.
In his first season (2015-16) at WSU, Williams aided in Jessie Kluz setting the school record for the outdoor long jump, and Sydney Vaughn being the first Warrior to score in the conference pentathlon with a school record 3,191 points. He also had four of his student-athletes receive Academic All-GLIAC accolades in Excellence Team selections Rachel Kloski and Jewel Wilson and Academic Team honorees in Callie Brower and Kluz.
The following year (2016-17), Kluz finished second in the high jump at the conference indoor championships. In addition, five of his student-athletes received All-Academic recognition for indoors and four for outdoors, including All-Academic Excellence honorees in Kloski and Wilson.
This past year (2017-18), Shanice Leach won the GLIAC indoor triple jump competition and subsequently earned USTFCCCA All-Region accolades along with Kluz in the high jump (3rd at GLIACs). Kluz was fourth in the long jump at indoors, while Kloski was fourth in the triple jump. At the 2018 GLIAC Outdoor Championships, Karrington Seals took second in the long jump, while Kluz was third and Kloski was fourth in the triple jump. Kluz also earned All-Region recognition in the high jump, after being selected GLIAC Athlete of the Week following her performance at the Oakland Grizzly Invite. WSU had a program-best fourth-place finish at the Outdoor Championships. Williams had three student-athletes (Kloski, Leach and Kluz) named to the GLIAC All-Academic Team for indoors.
Williams joined the Warrior staff after serving as an assistant track and field coach during the 2014-15 academic year at Austin Peay State University with his main focus on the jump events. In 2015, he was a nominee for the Assistant Coach of the Year Award presented by the United States Track and Field Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).
Williams graduated from the University of Nebraska – Lincoln in May of 2010 with a Bachelor of Arts in sociology; where he also was a member of the track and field team (2005-2009). He was a six-time All-Big 12 honoree and was a national qualifier in three seasons (Indoor in 2009; outdoor in 2008 and 2009).
As a Cornhusker, Williams is the only native Nebraskan to have achieve the distance of 25-9 in the history of the long jump. Williams remains seventh for indoor and ninth for outdoor on the all-time list for long jump at UNL. In 2009, he received the Russ White Spirit Award for outstanding leadership.
After serving as a volunteer coach at his alma mater, Omaha Central High School (2009-10), Williams moved to Santa Cruz, St. Elizabeth, Jamaica for an assistant coaching position at STETHS High School for the 2010-11 school year. He mentored athletes to a national title in the triple jump, second place in the high jump and a third-place finish in the long jump. Besides coaching, Williams also participated in professional competitions and trained with Warren Weir, Edino Steele and Usain Bolt. He was a volunteer assistant at OCHS in 2011-12.
He accepted a graduate assistant coaching position in 2012 at Midland University in Fremont, Neb., where he earned his Master’s in Education and Leadership Development. While at Midland, Williams coached student-athletes to five school records in the jump events over two seasons (2012-14).
A graduate of Omaha Central High School, Williams was a two-time competitor at the Nebraska Class A state meet (2003-04). He garnered silver medals at the 2004 state meet in both the long jump and triple jump. The Nebraska native also participated in the USATF Nebraska Junior Olympics in 2004 where he won the triple jump and in the USA Youth Athletics Championships for two years.
Williams is the son of Maurice and Eardie Williams. He and his wife, Brittany, reside in the Metro Detroit area with their newborn son Adam.
