An athlete considers many things when deciding where to go tocollege and one of those important reasons is location.
Sometimes, the farther the school is from home, the better.Eleven people on The University of Memphis men's track and fieldteam are from outside the United States, with one of them being atop sprinter.
Franck Diadhiou left his native country of Senegal for the BluffCity, after being recruited by head coach Glenn Hays.
Diadhiou is the oldest of four children, with two sisters and abrother. The senior sprinter based his decision to come to Memphislargely on his family perception of the city.
He came to Memphis because he said his parents didn't feelcomfortable with him living in a really big city.
"My parents wanted me to come to a small town," Diadhiou said."I was thinking New York (Columbia University) and Miami (TheUniversity of Miami) and they didn't like that."
Since arriving in Memphis five years ago, he has managed tobrush up on his English, by taking extensive English courses andexams like the TOEFL (test of English as a foreign language).
Diadhiou has excelled with challenges like the SATs and hiscourses. He is scheduled to graduate in three years with a degreein finance.
Diadhiou is now working towards the completion of his Mastersdegree of Economics, which he hopes to receive in the summer, buthe isn't planning on walking away from what he loves. He said oncehe finishes school, he's going to run independently.
"If I have time, I'm going to be practicing everyday," Diadhiousaid. "Kind of like what we're doing now. And if I get some friendsto do it, it will be even better."
Unlike Diadhiou, junior Ivan Green didn't want to stray too faraway from his hometown of College Park, Ga. So in order to stayclose to his parents, this only child headed to The U of M turningdown offers from schools in Oklahoma and South Carolina.
"I kind of wanted to stay here in the South," Williams said."And Memphis showed more interest in me so I chose to comehere."
With both of his parents having ran track, Williams was exposedto it at the age of six, when his mom, a former Alabama StateUniversity track star, signed him up to run in an after-schoolleague.
When track started to become boring, Williams quit running toplay basketball, but it didn't last long because track was in hisblood. Upon returning to track, he went to the nationals his junioryear of high school and the state championships both his junior andsenior years at Mt. Zion Academy.
The two people that inspired Williams the most are close to himbefore every race.
Williams has tattoos of both of his parent's initials on hisarms, which he rubs during practice and before races to help keephim motivated.
The junior sprinter said he also relies on something morepowerful before competition.
"I pray to make sure I can make it through the race," Williamssaid. "And despite me winning or getting a good time, to make surethat I'm still healthy."
Williams and his Memphis teammates managed to leaves this pastweekend's meet in good health and with several victories.
The Southeast Missouri State Gatorade Classic, the Tigers tookhome the title after dominating the meet in several eventsSaterday.
The 4x100m relay team, consisting of Diadhiou, Williams, GaryNemeth and Michael Woods, won the event with a time of 41.19.Diadhiou placed first in the 100m with 10.67, Nemeth came in secondwith 10.74, Williams placed third with 10.91 and Woods finishedfourth with 10.96.
In the 200m, Williams took first with 21.64, with Nemeth closebehind with a time of 21.68.
Preston Taylor placed second in the 400m intermediate hurdleswith 54.16. Istvan Kerekjarto won the 800m with 1:55.59, while AdamMartin finished second in the shot put, throwing a length of17.24.
The Tigers will be at the Mississippi State Invitational inStarkville, Miss., and the Sea Ray relays in Knoxville, Tenn., onSaturday.
