And sure enough, that’s precisely how it played out.

Williams not only won District 4 gold in the Class AAA long jump, but broke former Millionaire Allen Taylor’s mark from 2021 by more than a foot.

“It feels really good. All the hard work is showing now at a very important moment for my sophomore career,” Williams said with a smile. “It just feels good.”

Williams did well on all three of his attempts on Saturday. On his first jump, Williams leaped 23 feet, 0 3/4 inches. Knowing though he had tough competition, he knew he could go higher.

Williamsport celebrate second place in the 4x100m during the District IV track & field championships at Milton High School Saturday afternoon. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

He eclipsed that mark by a foot on his second jump before jumping his district-championship winning distance of 24-2 on his third and final attempt. 

“It was my third jump of prelims. The jump before that I jumped 24-2 and my coaches, they told me specific details that I can do a lot better on,” Williams said. “Everyone started clapping, I was behind the board, but felt really good.”

Williams noted that he wasn’t necessarily surprised, knowing he was capable of that.

“I knew I could do it, so all the hard work is just showing and I still got states to show more,” Williams said.

Williams was a two-event winner on Saturday for the Millionaires, highlighting Williamsport’s success in Class AAA as Williamsport had a number of top podium finishers. He had claimed a district medal on Thursday in the high jump as well to go 3 for 3 in district competition and qualify for states in all three events.

Tevin Williams of Williamsport competes in the 400m during the District IV track & field championships at Milton High School Saturday afternoon. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

Williams ran a time of 49.16 to take the title in the 400. He was the Millionaires’ lone two-event winner on Saturday. Williams held off Scott Fleming of Shikellamy (49.68) and Montoursville’s Winslow (50.40) to win in the 400.

Hurdler Kye Diakite won the 110 hurdles event, Alex Takach claimed a win in the 100 and took silver in the 200 and Williams won the 400. In addition, Brysen Thornton took bronze in the 1,600, Maurice Baines took third in the 300 hurdles, Diakite finished fourth in the 300 hurdles and Maxwell Fink finished fourth in the javelin.

Wrap all of that together, and Williamsport came just shy of winning the team title in Class AAA, finishing with 151 points for second place behind only Shikellamy’s 173.

“I mean we give it all to our coaches. They train us to be the best and for competition,” Diakite said of Williamsport’s overall success. “They give us all the support that we need. They’re doing it for us. They give us the tools and we put them to work.”

Diakite had a solid performance in the 110 hurdles to open the competition as he ran a 15.05, beating Maddox Hoover of Shikellamy, who finished second i 15.37 and Selinsgrove’s Matthew Stebila, who took bronze in 15.40. For Diakite, he didn’t start the event the best and had to right the ship roughly halfway through the event.

Ryan Bickert of Shamokin edges out Alex Takach of Williamsport during the boys 200m during the District IV track & field championships at Milton High School Saturday afternoon. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

“That race was not so special, not like the one Thursday, but it did me right,” Diakite said. “I was able to fix it halfway through and power through and finish.”

And having Hoover and Stebila in neighboring lanes helped him stay focused and win.

“Oh 100%, they pushed me so much,” Diakite said. “I could see them out of my peripherals and thought ‘I gotta turn the jets on.'”

In the 300 hurdles, Diakite would take fourth as he finished in 42.74 behind teammate Maurice Baines (42.15), Stebila of Selinsgrove (39.74) and Hoover of Shikellamy (40.39).

In the 100, Takach defending last year’s district title and won repeat gold as he finished in 10.95 to claim a win in an extremely narrow margin, beating out Shamokin’s Ryan Bickerty by just 0.01 seconds. Shamokin’s Logan Steele took third in 11.10 and Montoursville’s Bryce Winslow was fourth in 11.14.

Aubrey Phillips-Cobb of Williamsport (left) and Elizabeth Hollick of Jersey Shore clear the final obstacle during the 300m hurdles during the District IV track & field championships at Milton High School Saturday afternoon. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

“It means a lot. I don’t really like to think about the prior years because it’s a new year every year and new competitors and time every year,” Takach said. “I really focus in on this year and myself before I race to realize I’m not guaranteed another one. I have to work for this one. So, it means a lot to get out here and get this win.”

The competition in the 100 was outstanding, and entering Saturday all eight athletes knew it would be tough to win.

“I mean me, Ryan, Logan and even Bryce Winslow, we’re all going back and forth all the time. You look at the results throughout the year. We’re always competing with each other,” Takach said. “I know I say it a lot, but iron sharpens iron and I really love competing with those guys. They’re really great athletes. It just happened today that I got the best (of them), but we’re all close. It’s an honor to compete with them.”

In the 200, Takach ran a solid race again, finishing in 22.24, but was just 0.08 seconds behind Bickert who claimed the win and gold medal.

“This season has been full of ups and downs for me. My teammates have been in and out of injuries. Not being able to compete with them at practice has really hurt me not only as a competitor, but as a teammate not seeing them be there,” Takach said. “Today, it feels great to get a gold (in 100) to kind of have that stress lifted off my shoulders.”

Kale Klinger of Jersey Shore passes James Williams of Montoursville in the 400m race during the District IV track & field championships at Milton High School Saturday afternoon. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

Williamsport’s 400 relay team took home a silver medal with a time of 42.73 and also qualified for the state meet thanks to running a state qualifying standard. They trailed only Shamokin’s team which won in 41.89. That 400 relay team for the Millionaires consisted of Taali Buie, Takach, TJ Sabb-Wilson and Nathaniel Woods.

In the mile, Thornton finished in 4:30.84 and was behind only district champion Graham Wanck of Athens (4:27.07) and Midd-West’s Grant Boop (4:30.53). 

In the javelin, Williamsport’s Fink had a throw of 163-7 which was good enough for a fourth-place medal. Shikellamy’s William Bender won with a throw of 202-10, Brody Rebuck of Selinsgrove threw 187-0 to record a qualifying standard to make it to states with a second-place finish and Selinsgrove’s Chase Carter threw 170-8 to take bronze.

In the 400, Jersey Shore’s Kale Klinger finished in fifth place by running a time of 52.16, just behind Athens’ Patrick Umber, who ran 51.94 to take home fourth. He was the Bulldogs’ highest finisher in boys Class AAA competition.

Khani McCray would finish sixth in the long jump by leaping 20-7 3/4 and in the 1,600 relay, the Bulldogs finished in eighth place with a time of 3:44.92.