Golden Valley track star makes her college choice official. Where is she headed next?

For Angelena Williams, Southeast Missouri State University was a perfect fit.

The Golden Valley High senior was able to match up her major with a school offering her a track-and-field scholarship in the midwest. Williams signed her national letter of intent to Southeast Missouri State on Tuesday in the Golden Valley High library.

“I grew up in Illinois,” Williams said. “I grew up there. I have a lot of childhood memories in the midwest.”

Williams finished a very accomplished career at Golden Valley. The senior won four individual Central California Conference championships at the CCC championships on May 1 in Patterson. Williams won the 100-meter hurdles (14.90 seconds), 300 hurdles (49.38), long jump (17 feet, 6 inches) and triple jump (34-10).

Williams helped lead the Golden Valley girls to a CCC team championship.

Now she’ll get to compete at the collegiate level.

“I’m very excited to move on to the next level and see what I can do,” Williams said.

Williams says she likes that she’ll move closer to family in the midwest. She moved to Merced from Illinois after the eighth grade. She still has two brothers and other family living in Illinois.

Williams also considered schools like Stanislaus State and the University of Arizona.

She holds Golden Valley records in the 100-meter dash, 100 hurdles and 300 hurdles and she was part of the 4x100 relay team that set a record this past spring.

“Angie is a jewel of all trades,” said Golden Valley coach John Wooding. “If you need her to sprint, she’ll sprint. If you need her to jump, she’ll jump. She’ll just ask what you need and she’ll dominate. Of course she’ll dominate in the hurdles too. She can do it all.”

Williams is one of three Golden Valley athletes to recently sign their letters of intent.

Viviana Prado is headed to Wisconsin Parkside to play soccer.

Prado was a four-year varsity player for the Cougars at sweeper. Prado helped Golden Valley reach the playoffs all four years.

Also signing is senior Damien Ureste, who is headed to Westmont College in Santa Barbara as a mid-distance runner.

“Last year, Damien came to me and said, ‘Coach, I want to run in college. What do I have to do?’” Wooding said. “I told him he had to show up every day and work hard. He had to put in time in the weight room. If his teammates were taking the day off, he would have to continue to work. He can’t follow the pack to be a next-level athlete.

“He took that to heart.”

Ureste started taking his training and practices more seriously.

He did a lot of training on his own. He stayed late after practice to stretch properly. He logged hours in the weight room and he changed his diet.

“I took all the knowledge I received from Coach Wooding and other past coaches and used it to learn,” Ureste said.

A calf injury kept Ureste from advancing deep into the season in the 800 and 1600 events, but he reached the Sac-Joaquin Section Division III championships in the pole vault.

Ureste can’t wait to compete in college.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been more excited for anything in my life,” Ureste said. “This is something I’ve been wanting for a long time.”

This story was originally published May 29, 2019 at 3:59 PM.