MARION, Ind. - The 2023 NAIA Outdoor Track and Field Championships continued for the Talladega College on Thursday with a busy slate of action - particularly for Nastario Williams. In the end, Williams rose to the challenge, and earned himself a spot as an All-American in the process.

Williams qualified for the finals in the 100-meter dash, but his bigger achievement on the day was a 5th place finish in the long jump, earning him the All-American honor. Williams completed all six of his jump attempts without committing a foul, and he twice jumped a distance of 7.39 meters, or 24 feet 3 inches. The leap was the longest in his flight, and in fact, he held the lead in the event entering the third and final flight of the day. Williams had only qualified for the event thanks to a performance in the final meet the Tornadoes competed in prior to the Championships, as he was competing in the decathlon in an attempt to qualify in that multi-event as well. On the track, Williams also raced his way to the final day of the event. The junior posted the second fastest time in his 100-meter dash heat, and that qualified him for the event final on the final day of the Championships with a time of 10.39 seconds. 

Teammate Emmanuel Niang also qualified for his event final on Thursday by posting the fastest time in his heat of the 110-meter hurdles. The time was the third fastest in the preliminaries. 'Dega also competed in the 4x400-meter relay, where the team posted a time of 3:20.81 and finished 17th.

The Tornadoes will be involved in four event finals on Friday. The day gets underway at 12:50 p.m. with the finals in the 4x100-meter relay, and beginning at 1:30 p.m., the 110-meter hurdles and the 100-meter dash will be contested consecutively. The day will wrap up for 'Dega at 3:20 p.m. when Williams takes to the track in the 200-meter dash final. Williams entered the Championships with the 12-fastest mark of the season in the 100-meter dash, the 8th-fastest time in the 200-meters, and Niang was the 4th fastest in the 110-meter hurdles on the season.