Jaylen Williams had a fantastic cross country year.
Jaylen Williams clocked 17:17.00 at the inaugural Brooks Cross-Country Championships last weekend.
Jaylen Williams wanted to make a statement during her senior year. Jaylen finished 24th at the 2024 CIF state meet. That performance had an effect on him, perhaps waking him up. In an interview with FootLocker 45 media in December 2024, where he overcame his tough state mark to finish 9th in the nation with his top ten HOKA FootLocker XC Champs.
After that race, Jaylen Williams told the media: “I didn’t want to finish the season 24th at State. It motivated me. I learned from the state. I wanted another race where there was no stress, just fun.”
As a sophomore runner, Jaylen won the 2-mile in 9:57.11. Jaylin placed 4th in the CIF 3,200 meters in 10:12.15 after being plagued by injuries his junior year. While she didn’t finish in the 1,600m final, Jaylin ran 4:44.71 in the sectional. At the USATF U-20 Juniors, Jaylen Williams finished second in the 1,500 meters in a PB of 4:22:32 in the 1,500 meters. That same day, Jaylen finished 4th in the 3,000 meters in 9:36.11, earning two All-American status in one day.
San Diego, California, USA
December 13, 2025 Photo by Kevin Morris for Brooks XC.
How great was 2025 for Jaylin Williams? Well, he won the San Diego Section Division 1 three times, he qualified for the CIF State Cross Country all four years, a rare event in California. Jaylen set a record by winning the CIF International Tournament in 2025. Jaylin Williams was 4th in CIF state as a freshman and sophomore.
At NXN on December 6, 2025, Jaylen Williams finished third in an attempt to steal the event, running 16:58 with Blair Bartlett in second and Natasha Dudek in first.
On December 13, 2025, Jaylen Williams finished third in 17:17.00, becoming only the fourth girl in California state history to qualify for FootLocker cross-country and NIKE Cross four times in four years.
Jaylen Williams told the media after the Brooks XC Champs race. “I mean, I’m happy with how I raced… It went really fast and so I think I spent a little bit of energy just trying to stay with the leaders… maybe in the future, maybe I’ll hold back a little bit more throughout the race to have something at the end.”
At the beginning of the season, Jaylen Williams told RunBlogRun that he was focused on his senior year cross country season and he has. We look forward to Jaeyln’s senior season showing strength and endurance in her fall season, Jaeyln should be poised for some big PBs.
The Brooks Run Guide Interviews, Episode #2: Jaylin Williams, Brooks NIL Sponsor Athlete
