2021 Quincy Blue Devil Sports Hall of Fame Inductee: Charles Williams, Athlete

(EDITOR’S NOTE: The 2020 and 2021 classes are being inducted into the Quincy Blue Devil Sports Hall of Fame together this year. Williams will be inducted on Saturday, Nov. 27 before QHS’s boys basketball game.)

Charles Williams soared to incredible heights during his days with the Quincy High School track and field team.

A 2002 QHS graduate, Williams qualified for the Class AA track and field championships in both the pole vault and high jump. At O’Brien Stadium on the Eastern Illinois University campus in Charleston, Williams finished third in both events to earn all-state honors. He cleared 14 feet, 6 inches in the pole vault and 6 feet, 8 inches in the high jump.

He went to Rend Lake College in Ina, Ill., where he competed in the pentathlon and specialized in

the high jump. He cleared 6 feet, 93⁄4 inches in the high jump at the NJCAA regionals. It propelled him to Independence College in Independence, Kan., where he competed in both the pentathlon and decathlon. During the indoor track season, he finished eighth in the pentathlon and earned All- American honors.

Injuries curtailed his career, and Williams completed his degree at the University of Illinois. He and his wife, Halle, have two sons — 12-year- old Charles IV and 7-year-old Bentley. Williams is a child welfare specialist with DCFS.