A San Diego native, Lincoln High graduate, and San Diego State Alum, Wes Williams was one of the top hurdlers of the 1970s and has been coaching locally ever since. 

After spending 19 seasons at CSU San Marcos and retiring, Coach Wes returns to SD Mesa College where it all started for him.

In his 17th season with CSUSM in 2016, Williams helped the relay squads make a big impression at the CCAA Championships. The women’s 4x400m relay of Cristen Lane, Charlotte Kuzminsky, Elizabeth Buckle and Lauren Wyckoff posted the second-fastest time during the prelims. Also guided the 4x400m relay squad of Wyckoff, Kuzminsky, Buckle and Danielle Tildahlto victory at the Aztec Invitational.

Under his tutelage, seven student-athletes achieved CCAA Championship qualifiers and 22 Cougars established personal-bests in various events.

In his debut season for SDSU in 1969, Williams set the 400-meter hurdles school record and placed second at the NCAA Division I Championships with a time of 49.3 seconds, .1 seconds off the American record.  He graduated from SDSU in 1970 following a third place finish at the National Championships, ending his Aztec career as a two-time conference champion and two-time NCAA All-American.

Williams continued his career professionally, ranking in the top-10 in the world in the 400-meter hurdles from 1969 through 1977.  He won the AAU Indoor National Championship in the 600-meter dash in 1973 and 1974, and he competed as a member of four USA national teams.

Williams’ coaching career began in 1971 at Lincoln High School.  From there he made stops at San Diego Mesa College, UCSD, and finally the newly-created program at Cal State San Marcos in 1998.  Williams has served as the Assistant Track & Field Coach for the Cougars since Athletics at CSUSM was founded, working with Head Coach Steve Scott to build CSUSM Track & Field into one of the top programs in the NAIA.

Wes graduated from SDSU in 1970 with a degree in Physical Education with a U.S. History minor.  He has three children and three grandchildren, and he and his wife Debbie live in University City.