Published: April 12th, 2012
Greenville News online

Her coaches believe Alyssa Kulik doesn’t fully comprehend the scope of her gift as a steeplechase runner, which is somewhat out of place for an intellectually superior young woman.

Kulik, a senior on the Clemson University track and field team, runs the 3,000-meter gauntlet capable of stripping an athlete’s dignity. Five portable barriers, including a water jump, mimic the obstacles men encountered racing from town to town in 19th century Britain using church steeples serving as beacons.

The barriers must be cleared seven times each during a race.

“It’s not good when you go through a water jump slowly,” Kulik said with a self-deprecating laugh. “I usually end up a little wet.”

An accomplished runner at Mauldin High School, where she was a multiple state champion in track and cross country and team MVP each year, Kulik came to the steeplechase at Clemson with no experience but an intellectual curiosity.

After several missteps her first two years, Kulik blossomed last year with distance coach Brad Herbster and finished second at the ACC Championships, won the Penn Relays and earned first-team All-American with a fourth-place finish at the NCAA Outdoors Championships.

Kulik owns the Clemson record: 9 minutes, 57.51 seconds, a scant 2½ seconds from automatic qualifying for the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials. Herbster and Lawrence Johnson, Clemson’s director of track and field, are confident Kulik will compete at the U.S. Trials in late June in Eugene, Ore. They also believe can have a professional career after she graduates in May with a double major in Spanish and psychology.

Johnson said she still seems skeptical.

“ ‘You’re talking to me?’ Yes, you,” he’s told her, “You could be pretty good.”

Recognized each year for academic achievement, Kulik was awarded a post-graduate scholarship by the ACC. Recently she was accepted into the graduate program in speech pathology at the University of South Carolina. She seemed reticent when asked about the possibility of being paid to run and see the world. This year, the international track’s Diamond League has 14 meets at venues in Qatar, China, Norway, Monaco and many of the capitols of Europe.

Kulik said she intended to keep an open mind. A lot depends on how she progresses this spring, she said. In her first steeplechase competition of the season two weekends ago, she won the event in a meet record time of 10:12.25 at the Raleigh (N.C.) Relays. The ACC Championship and the Penn Relays follow in the next two weeks.

“I’m not really sure what I’m going to do with that yet,” Kulik said of her future. “I still want to keep that option open, maybe take a year away from school if I see that it’s beneficial. I haven’t closed any doors yet, but I haven’t really opened any either.

“I’m sure I could probably defer graduate school for a little a bit. I would worry about losing my spot and leaving my family and friends,” she said. “At the same time, if it did give me the opportunity to travel the world, I don’t know if I would pass it up. That would be incredible.

“I do need to see how far I get this season.”

Johnson marvels at Kulik’s progress from her sophomore to junior years.

“She’s so talented. To finish fourth in the NCAA meet in the steeplechase where a year before that you weren’t even in the conversation. That just doesn’t happen,” he said. “I knew then she was something special.”

While the numbers are real, Johnson and Herbster think she’s still trying to digest it. Kulik said she still doesn’t know why she was nudged to the event.

“I’m still trying to figure that out. I’m not really sure,” she said. “I guess it’s because I’m open to it.”

When Herbster joined the program three years ago, he made it his mission to push her. He thinks her willingness to embrace it was critical. As well, he thinks there’s a hard-core competitor smoldering inside.

“I don’t think she understands that she is one of the best in the country,” said Herbster. “Maybe that’s good.”

“She has started to warm up a little to the idea.”

For her part, Kulik has chosen to be methodical in her approach to the future.

“I’ll see what kinds of offers are made, then I’ll decide. I don’t want to look back and regret any decision,” she said.

Regardless, she said running may always be a part of her life.

“Whether I do or not,” she said, “I will continue to run.”

Seven Mauldin student-athletes choose colleges
Soccer, track, swimming, tennis stars eager for next move

Published: Wednesday, June 1, 2011
By Bob Castello
Tribune-Times Writer
bcastell@greenvillenews.com

At a time when her recruitment should have been picking up, Mauldin senior Gracie Boswell was sitting out — sidelined much of the club season during her junior year because of bouts of pneumonia and mononucleosis.

Then Presbyterian College came into the picture, and Boswell capitalized on the opportunity and signed with the Blue Hose.

“I wasn't sure if I was going to play,” the Mavericks' all-state forward said, “and then I realized I couldn't imagine my life without soccer.”

Boswell was one of six Mauldin seniors recognized during a ceremony at the school May 25.
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Shai Carpenter, the Class AAAA state champion in the triple jump, signed with Clemson. He won with a leap of 49 feet, 4 inches, second-longest in the state this season.

“I think Clemson will be able to get me to the next level,” Carpenter said. “They'll actually make me stronger and help me to be my best.”

Twin brothers Isaiah and Isaac Phyall chose to continue competing in track and field at Mars Hill College.

“We were trying to compete against each other, but I think it might be a little easier working together,” Isaac Phyall said.

Isaac Phyall said his main event will be the 400-meter dash; Isaiah Phyall said he would be competing in the long and triple jumps and, more than likely, the hurdles.

Liz Mooney and Pablo Ortiz signed to swim for the College of Charleston.

“The school is amazing,” Mooney said. “The team is what really got me so excited about it. I've never met a team that's so close and that loves each other so much.”

“The city is beautiful; and when I went for a visit, I liked the people,” said Ortiz.

The school also announced that Mavericks' tennis player Wilson Mathewes has signed with the University of South Carolina at Lancaster.

Pressure, nerves push Mavs' runner to the front
Mauldin's Williams is top girls cross country runner in state
By Bob Castello • bcastell@greenvillenews.com • Published: October 14. 2010 2:00AM

Mauldin junior Brittany Williams, No. 1 among girls cross country runners in the state, is within three seconds of the school record.

When she arrives at meets and sees other teams, Brittany Williams gets nervous.

The last 30 minutes before a race? Nerve-wracking. Lining up just before the starter barks commands? Another moment of anxiety.
“Two minutes before he starts calling,” she said, “that's the worst.”
Then the gun goes off, and Williams, a junior at Mauldin High School, beats the nerves -- and everyone around her. She slips – more like zips -- into her role as the No. 1 girls cross country runner in the state.
She never expected as much.
“I wanted to break 19 (minutes) this year,” Williams said, “but I didn't think I'd get to where I am.”
She's within three seconds of the school record, the 18:11 run by 2006 Class AAAA state champion Alyssa Kulik, who's now competing at Clemson University.
And Williams is following in the footsteps of former Maverick and current Clemson runner Alexa Neiling, last year's state runner-up.
“I never thought I would be close to Lexi when I first started running,” Williams said. “I looked up to her.”
“Brittany learned so much from Lexi's competitiveness and leadership last year, and it's really paying off,” said Chris Williams, Brittany's father. “I don't think Brittany would be where she is right now if it weren't for that mentorship that hopefully she's passing on to the (other) runners at Mauldin.”
Brittany, the older of Chris and Mindy Williams' two daughters, has running in her genes. Her dad played football and ran track, more the sprinter type.
“He was the faster one,” Brittany said. “My mom was the cross country runner.”
Her parents support Brittany from near and far. Chris Williams is a major in the U.S. Army National Guard. Mindy Williams is a colonel in the United States Marine Corps Reserve.
Chris Williams served in Iraq during the 2005-06 school year and has often been in other parts of the U.S. Mindy Williams, on assignment in Quantico, Va., is scheduled to leave for Iraq in January.
“I'm proud of what they do,” Brittany Williams said. “They've worked hard all their lives. They've been successful. I love them the way they are. They don't put any pressure on me. They just want me to go out and have fun.”

“She gets very nervous,” Chris Williams said, “but I told her that when she stops getting nervous, then it's time to re-evaluate where her mind is.”
The nerves haven't slowed Brittany Williams' progress. She has risen quickly in the sport.
Williams began running track in the eighth grade, and she qualified for state in the 3,200-meter run each of the past two years.
After track went well for her as a freshman, Williams decided to give cross country a try. She capped her first season by finishing third in the state.
“But she just sat back behind Lexi Neiling and didn’t really try to go any harder,” Mauldin coach Delmer Howell said. “I don't think she understood what she could do.”
Two weekends ago, Williams came in second and ran her personal-best time of 18:14 in the Wendy's Invitational in Charlotte.
She was the top finisher among in-state runners, just as she was this past weekend while taking second in the Furman Invitational.
On Tuesday, Williams won the Region 2-AAAA meet at Dorman.
And yet, Howell said, “I don’t think she’s even come close to what she can do. She’s phenomenal. She works very hard. She does as much as she can do, and she's a coach's delight.”
Williams, who maintains a 4.7 grade-point average, said she's been nervous about the state meet since before the season began. Nonetheless, she finished first in the Coaches Classic, which is held at the Sandhills Research Center in Columbia, site of the state meet. That victory vaulted her to the top of the state rankings.
“I feel like there's a lot of pressure,” she said, “but pressure makes me go, I guess.”
That and a little anxiety.

Wednesday, 15 September 2010 21:40
Article Courtesy of GoMauldin.com

Something pretty special is going on in Mauldin athletics. Brittany Williams, who’s parents, Chris and Mindy, actively serve in the Army and Marines, respectively, is excelling in long distance running for the Mavericks cross country team.
Williams won the Coaches’ Classic 5K race last Saturday in Columbia, S.C. Her time, 18:51, may sound like mere numbers to those not familiar with running. But anyone who knows that feeling of burning lungs, exhausted limbs and a body soaked in sweat understands what an achievement that really is, especially for a 16-year-old.
“Am I proud?” asked her mother, Marine Col. Mindy Williams. “I was on active duty this weekend working with a bunch of Marines. As soon as my phone started lighting up (about 10 seconds after Brittany crossed the finish line) I ran to tell my fellow Marine Colonels the news. I practically cried I was so happy that she had won, AND that she had set a PR (personal record) again! All of us Colonels, the old Marines, seem to brag on our children more than anything else we do -- it's our bond together as we are all away from our families.”
Father Chris, an Army major who was also on active duty last weekend, was equally elated to hear the news.
“The pride that I have for Brittany knows no bounds,” he said. “I am more proud of her humble demeanor in which she handles her success than her feat of winning that particular race or any race. Brittany is a competitive individual and is driven to improve her God given skills, but she is mature enough to know that there will be tough times before success is achieved. I just love her attitude and how she approaches each competition in sports and each exam in the academic area. She understands that she is a student-athlete and the student portion comes first.”
Brittany was asked whether her stamina comes from within or from a mother who has run competitively for 31 years and a father who has earned a national title in power lifting.
“I have no idea,” she said, smiling. “I just want to please Coach, I guess.”
Coach would be Coach Delmer Howell, a demanding man who has coaxed 15 team and seven individual state cross country championships from athletes who needed his coaxing to stay ahead of the ultimate opponent, the stopwatch.
“You have to give credit to the child,” said Howell. “Brittany herself has decided that she wants to be successful. It’s not me. She has decided to put in the miles and the intensity into her running to get where she is. She’s running at a level that’s far beyond what the other kids are doing here. I really don’t think it’s talent. I think it’s the maturity of the individual and her desire to succeed.”
Williams had some pretty good role models at home. Each is an accomplished athlete, but you have to ask the spouse for details because neither one will brag on themself.
“We opened the paper this past week and saw an article about a 46 year old man who set a state record with his power lifts,” says Mindy. “Chris would break all of those records - at 47 - with his opening lift!”
“I’m the slow runner in the family and therefore offer nothing but advice for Brittany’s improvement,” says Chris. “I personally think that Brittany cannot jog slow enough to keep up with me. My wife, on the other hand, can run the distances with Brittany. She is a true runner in the sense that she knows what pace she is running, how far she has run and she normally gets stronger and faster as the run continues. From a parental influence, I would say that my wife has more of an influence on Brittany’s running than I could ever have. If the three of us were to run at the same time, I would pull rear security.”
Howell made Brittany a captain on his cross country team, secure in the fact that he couldn’t have made a better choice to lead the rest of his athletes, both on and off the course. He says Brittany’s teammates should follow her example, because there is only so much he can do in teaching them to push through those walls that all runners face.
“You can work on it and you can pound it into your players as a coach, but it’s like forcing a square peg into a round hole,” he said. “You can show them how and give them the opportunity to do it, but if they are going to be successful, they’re the ones who choose to do so or to be back of the pack.”
“Looking at Brittany, she’s such a wonderful, sweet child that you may not even realize how much intensity she has in meeting her.”
Williams has only been running for three years. She says she started because her friends were doing it, and despite having two parents who are fierce competitors, they haven’t pushed anything on her.
“They just tell me to do the best that I can,” she said. “They don’t put ANY pressure on me which is awesome.”
The fact that one is usually away is tough, but both parents are with her, every step of the way, in spirit if not in person.
“One of us is usually home,” said Mindy. “This past weekend we were both on active duty and missed the race of Brittany's life - so far. I am sick about it - but we have a great group of parents who support us. Chris has deployed to Iraq and has done several state-side deployments. It looks like my turn is coming up soon. One of us seems to be on orders doing something - as an example - I will be gone the entire month of October and have been gone about half of September. When I am here - Brittany's dad usually has somewhere to go as well.”
“The idea of belonging to an organization/team and part of something that is far greater than ourselves is important,” said Chris. “Brittany knows her role and responsibilities as a runner and leader, but most importantly she knows that the name of the front of her jersey is far greater than the one wearing it. She continues to impress me with her positive attitude, and I feel that I have learned more from watching her develop into a good runner than she could ever learn from me.”
Don’t look now, but this family has another stellar athlete rising in the ranks.
“Brittany's little sister, Brooke, is 13 yrs old,” said Mindy. “She’s in the eighth grade and has also set several PRs, including this weekend, in swimming for the Mauldin High School swim team.”

COLUMBIA -- For the second year in a row, Mauldin had the fastest girl at the Coaches Classic cross country meet.

Mavericks junior Brittany Williams posted a time of 18 minutes, 53 seconds Saturday to win the International Girls division of the Coaches Classic at the Sandhills Research Center.
Last year, Williams was runner-up to teammate Alexa Neiling, who is now running at Clemson University.
Williams overcame Daniel senior Sinead Haughey, a two-time Class AAA state champion who finished in 19:04.
Allie Arsiniega of Riverside finished in 19:45 to finish eighth in the International race.
The day's varsity races were split into the International and Championship divisions, with the International billed as the more competitive of the two.
Wando was the International Girls team champion, and Hilton Head won the International Boys division.
Ridge View senior Joseph Keitt had the best time of the day 15:46 in winning the International Boys race.
Christ Church freshman James Quattlebaum was victorious for the second week in a row in the Championship Boys division. He finished in 16:43 one second faster than he ran to win in the Eye Opener the previous week.
Christ Church sophomore Caroline Jennings was the runner-up in the Championship Girls division for the second consecutive week. She finished in 19:28, six seconds behind Pendleton senior Jessica Whitmire.
Saturday's event involved a total of 233 teams from across the state, and there were 2,064 finishers.

MHS Boys Head Track Coach and teacher, Terrence Harris has accepted a position at Northwest Middle School as an Administrative Assistant. This is a wonderful new opportunity for Coach Harris but we are sad that he will be leaving Mauldin! Coach Harris graduated from MHS. Coach Harris recently completed his Masters in School administration from USC. We wish Coach Harris and his family all the best!

GS athletes advance in track/field
On to state for Mauldin and Hillcrest
Published: Wednesday, May 5, 2010 - 2:00 am

By Bob Castello
Tribune-Times Writer
bcastell@greenvillenews.com

Numerous Mauldin and Hillcrest athletes advanced to the Class AAAA state qualifier with their performances during Friday's Region 2-AAAA track and field meet at Byrnes.

Mauldin's Alexa Neiling placed first in the 3,200-meter run (11:43.22), took second in the 1,600 and was on the Mavericks' victorious 3,200-meter relay team (9:44.69), along with Carly Wilson, Brittany Williams and Kathleen Jacob.

The top four in each event earned spots in the Class AAAA state qualifier, scheduled for Saturday at Memorial Stadium in Columbia.

Williams also took third in the 3,200 and fourth in the 1,600. Jacob also finished second in the 800.

Mauldin's Chandler Floyd won the discus (103 feet) and took third in the shot put. The Mavericks' other individual qualifiers in the girls meet were Stephanie Konruff (third in the long jump), Shatara Martin (second in the 400), Barbara Bennett (third in the 400 hurdles) and Savannah Hiller (third in the pole vault).

Hillcrest's Dez Rae Spencer placed second in the 200 and third in the 100.

Mauldin's girls had two other relay teams qualify. The Mavericks took third in the 1,600 relay (Jacob, Martin, Kate Macsay and Natalie Terlitsky) and fourth in the 400 relay (Bennett, Konruff, Martin and Brie Merritt).

In the boys meet, Mauldin and Hillcrest each had one region champion. The Mavericks' E.J. Reddick won the triple jump (44-4), and the Rams' Wesley Edwards won the high jump (5-10).

Also, Hillcrest's Mike Rose took second in the 200 and C.J. Barksdale took third in the shot put. Mauldin's Tyler Tesch placed second in the 1,600.

The top eight in each event at the state qualifier will move on to the state meet May 14-15 at Lower Richland High School in Hopkins.

Patriots continue county reign
Nelson sparks Mann to sixth straight track title

Published: Wednesday, April 28, 2010 - 2:00 am
By Bob Castello
Tribune-Times Writer
bcastell@greenvillenews.com

TAYLORS

Mauldin celebrates senior signees
By J. Bennett Harris

November 5, 2009

Ramirez, Neiling try to lead pack

By Bob Castello
Staff Writer

The last time they ran on the Sandhills Research Park course in Columbia, seniors Aaron Ramirez of Woodmont and Alexa Neiling of Mauldin were at the head of their classes.

Duplicating those performances on Saturday will enable Ramirez to repeat as Class AAA boys state champion and Neiling to become Class AAAA girls champion for the first time.

In last week