Cedricka Williams taking inspiration from Dacres

With inspiration from her role model, World Championship discus silver medallist Fedrick Dacres, Holmwood Technical's Cedricka Williams says she wants to continue setting the standard for success at the ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys and Girls' Athletics Championships (Champs) next week.

She also wants to have fun while doing it.

Williams, who captured the Class Two Girls discus title and the Champs record last year, is targeting similar success at the Class One level this year, hoping to continue her strong season. Williams is the number one thrower in Class One, with a distance of 53.91m, which she made last month at Central Champs.

Dacres has been the standard by which Williams says she hopes to reach, saying that his perseverance has been one of the many qualities that she admires.

"He has inspired me to know that in any situation that you are going through, in hard times, you just keep on pushing through and do things to the best of your ability," Williams told THE WEEKEND STAR.

Her unforgettable moment from last year's Champs was not just claiming the Class Two record, but also when she met Dacres after the event, an encounter that she said made her feel like she was in the "big leagues".

"We met and he called me daughter," Williams said. "It was very exciting. It was a good feeling because I felt like a pro."

From that meeting, she is taking notes from Dacres on how he trains, especially his attitude in sessions. While Williams admits that she has a more serious demeanour in practice, she hopes to find the same balance Dacres has, with bringing some fun into the mix.

"What I have seen in training, he trains hard and at the same time he has fun with it," she said. "I am calm and collected, sometimes a bit grumpy when I don't get a good throw. But I'm not really as jovial as he is.

"I'm trying to be more fun and relaxed during training because it also helps with the discus. If you are too tense, you cannot throw properly. So I am trying to be calmer."

Cedricka Williams