Williams announces retirement from college athletics
Chris Williams has served as SWU's director of athletics since 2007, an era that's seen the Warriors win several championships in various sports.
Southern Wesleyan's Director of Athletics Chris Williams announced his retirement from Southern Wesleyan University on Monday, March 2. Williams has served the Warriors as the Director of Athletics for over a decade.
Williams joined TeamSWU in 2007. During his time at Southern Wesleyan, Williams led the charge in the transition from NAIA to the NCAA DII. Most recently, he has sat on the Conference Carolinas AD Championship Committee and served as the president of the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA).
During his time at SWU, Williams has committed the department to integrating a Christian approach to faith, living, learning and competition as the Warriors represent God and the University at their home venues and one the road. The Warrior athletic department has stood on this mission statement and centered themselves around four core pillars: Spiritual Development, Academic Success, Community Service and Athletic Excellence. Under his guidance, the Warriors have embraced sportsmanship as they swept the conference sportsmanship awards during the 17-18 season. The sportsmanship awards are presented annually to the member institution who exhibited the highest degree of sportsmanship and respect among its players, coaches and fans during their regular playing season. Along with sportsmanship, Williams has always emphasized success in the classroom. The department overall GPA has continued to rise each year and currently sits at a grade point average of 3.23 among the 18 varsity sports and nearly 300 athletes.
Under Williams' leadership, SWU Athletics has won four NCCAA National Championships in team competitions and 13 individual national champions. The Women's Track and Field team has claimed the Conference Carolinas Runner-Up Title multiple times. In the spring of 2019, the Women's Track and Field 4x100 became the first group to advance to the NCAA DII National Championship where they finished in seventh place to be named All-Americans. At the end of the Indoor Track and Field winter 2020 season, Jami Wright (200 and 400 meters) and Mycherie Onwuzuruike (long jump) were announced as advancing to the Women's Track and Field Indoor Division II Nationals. The Warriors continued to flourish under Williams' guidance as the Men's Basketball team under Head Coach Nick Pasqua advanced to the Conference Carolinas Championship Tournament for the first time in school history. Williams has also initiated the addition of men's and women's indoor and outdoor track and field, men's and women's tennis, women's golf and women's lacrosse to the list of sponsored sports at Southern Wesleyan during his time as the Director of Athletics.
Through various initiatives, Williams has worked to improve and expand the athletic facilities at Southern Wesleyan. During the transition to NCAA, the university constructed the multi-million dollar Joe R Gilbert Track and Field complex which was dedicated in 2014. Southern Wesleyan also completed the Rev. Leroy Cox Tennis Complex which features six lighted USTA endorsed courts and a state of the art scoreboard. During the 2017 season, Southern Wesleyan's Dr. C Keith Connor Field constructed and dedicated a new Warrior clubhouse which was named the Parker-Sinnamon Baseball Clubhouse. Southern Wesleyan also made improvements in Historic Tysinger Gymnasium including team locker rooms and additional office space. Improvements were also made to Varsity Field in the way of a new press box and clubhouse. Southern Wesleyan dedicated the new P.B. Wood Driving Range and M.L. Atcheson Putting Green to better accommodate both golf teams.
Williams spearheaded the addition of the Annual SWUPY Award Show. It is an annual event that recognizes the university's student-athletes, corporate sponsors, community members and Warrior alums. The red-carpet, formal ceremony has transformed into one of the best small college award shows in the country and has become a campus highlight year after year. Most recently, Williams has added the addition of a sponsor for the ceremony as he brought Founders Federal Credit Union into the fold to allow athletics to continue to create an amazing environment for the student athletes.
"I am excited that Julia Reininga has been named the Interim AD," said Williams. "Her contagious spirit has and will continue to make her the right leader for Warrior Athletics. Julia has been and will continue to be a great friend. She has my full support and she will continue to lead in such a way that will only elevate the Warriors!"
After his nearly 30 year career in college athletics, serving as both coach and athletics director, Williams will join his family in building their family-owned company Vertical Engineering. Southern Wesleyan is thankful for everything Williams has done to help Warrior Athletics.
Southern Wesleyan University is a Christ-centered, student-focused learning community devoted to transforming lives by challenging students to be dedicated scholars and servant-leaders who impact the world for Christ. For details about degree programs, go online to swu.edu.
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