Williams & Targgart Named All-Americans

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – Central Michigan's Nadia Williams and Logan Targgart have been named All-America for the 2020 indoor season by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.

It marks the second-consecutive year that Williams has earned indoor All-America honors and it marks the first time that Targgart has accomplished the feat. Williams was also an All-American in the 2019 outdoor season, when she placed 14th in the long jump at the NCAA Championships in Austin, Texas.

Both Williams and Targgart qualified for the NCAA Indoor Championships in March. They were among the 16 qualifiers per event – Targgart in the men's weight throw; Williams the women's long jump -- from across the nation to earn a bid to the championships.

In the wake of the NCAA Championships cancellation, the USTFCCCA this week awarded All-America status to all qualifiers with no first- or second-team designation. Normally, the top-eight finishers in the nationals earn First Team All-American honors and those finishing ninth-16th are second team.

"I'm really proud of them and what they did throughout the indoor season, how they stayed focused and worked really, really hard to qualify for the meet," CMU director of track & field/cross country Jenny Swieton said. "They didn't get that opportunity (to compete at the NCAA Championships) which is a bummer, but I'm very thankful that they've been named All-America. I think that's a little bit of a silver lining to a not-so-awesome situation."

Targgart, a fifth-year senior from Coldwater, won the weight throw at the Mid-American Conference Championships in February with a program-record-tying throw of 21.92 meters, which ranked as the 13th-best throw in the nation during the 2020 indoor season.

He won the hammer throw at the 2018 MAC Outdoor Championships and finishes his career as a three-time All-MAC performer. He qualified for the 2019 NCAA Outdoor East Preliminary in the hammer throw and is CMU's first male indoor All-American since Relando Powell (60-meter dash) in 2014. He is the program's first All-American in the weight throw since Kevin Mays earned the honor in 2012.

Targgart is also a seven-time Academic All-MAC honoree and a four-time MAC Distinguished Scholar Athlete.

"For Logan, it was always his goal to be an All-American and he did it in his fifth year," Swieton said. "It gives me chills just talking about it, that he capitalized on his practices and his experiences and gets to go out as an All-American. I think that means so much to him."

Williams, a senior from Mount Horeb, Wis., won her second-consecutive MAC indoor long jump title in February. She also captured the league women's outdoor long jump crown in 2019 and is the program record-holder in both the outdoor long jump (6.54 meters) and the indoor long jump (6.43).

She is the first three-time All-American in CMU women's track & field history and is a six-time All-MAC honoree.

"For Nadia to do it three seasons in a row is remarkable," said Swieton, who added that Williams plans to take advantage of the NCAA waiver allowing senior athletes to return for one more season, in her case the 2021 outdoor season.

"When you have a year like she did (in 2019-20), sometimes it's hard to come back and still be on the top of your game because it adds pressure and sometimes it's a whole different situation," Swieton said. "Sometimes you'll see a little lull in performance after you've had a big year and for her to handle all of that and come back and take care of business is really awesome. I'm really proud of her for that.

"Her goals didn't stop at All-American last year. She was like, 'OK, now I want to break the school record again; now I want to jump 22 feet; I want to win NCAAs.' There's always something more and I think that's what's really awesome about her, it just made her more motivated to reach even higher. That's why she's so successful. That internal fire that motivates you."

Players Mentioned

Logan Targgart

Nadia Williams

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