Christa Williams (softball)
Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
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Full name | Christa Lee Williams | ||||||||||||||||
Born | Houston, Texas, U.S. | February 8, 1978||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Christa Lee Williams-Yates (born February 8, 1978) is an American, former collegiate three-time All-American, two-time Gold Medal winning Olympian, retired three-time pro All-Star, right-handed hitting softball pitcher originally from Houston, Texas. She competed at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta where she received a gold medal with the American team. Four years later at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, she won her second gold medal. Williams-Yates began her college career with the UCLA Bruins in 1997 before transferring to play softball with the Texas Longhorns (1998-99). Joining in its inaugural year, she played three years in the National Pro Fastpitch with the Texas Thunder (2004-06) and still ranks top-10 in career wins, strikeouts, ERA among other records. In 2018, Williams-Yates was named to the USA National Softball Hall of Fame.[1] Currently, Williams-Yates teaches high school softball in Houston.
College[edit]
In her freshman year, Williams-Yates was named a National Fastpitch Coaches Association Third Team All-American.[2] She was also named First Team All-Pac-12[3] She led the Bruins to the Women's College World Series and into the championship final where they lost to the Arizona Wildcats on May 26. Williams-Yates was named to the All-Tournament Team going 4-2, throwing two shutouts with 46 strikeouts.[4][5]
Williams-Yates transferred to University of Texas for the next two seasons. She was named a NFCA First Team in 1998 and the Second Team in 1999.[6][7] She also would earn two First-Team All-Big 12 selections.[8] This helped earn her a place on Team USA for the 2000 Summer Olympics and Williams-Yates opted not to return for her senior year.
NPF[edit]
Williams-Yates was named an All-Star all three years of her career with the Texas Thunder. She debuted on June 1, 2004, throwing a two-hit shutout with 6 strikeouts over the Akron Racers.[9] She no hit the Arizona Heat on June 18 with a 15 strikeout performance. On June 28, 2005, she set a personal best by fanning 17 of the Stratford Brakettes. Later that year beginning on July 7-August 6 she pitched a 10 consecutive game win streak, throwing 65.0 innings with 25 hits, 6 earned runs, 16 walks and 74 strikeouts for a 0.64 ERA and 0.63 WHIP.[10]
Williams-Yates is the only NPF player to have played at least three seasons and be recognized as an All-Star every year of their career. She currently ranks top-10 in career statistics for wins, strikeouts, ERA, shutouts, strikeout ratio and WHIP.
Statistics[edit]
UCLA Bruins & Texas Longhorns[edit]
YEAR | W | L | GP | GS | CG | SHO | SV | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | ERA | WHIP |
1997 | 21 | 8 | 34 | 29 | 28 | 14 | 4 | 205.0 | 149 | 64 | 53 | 84 | 218 | 1.81 | 1.13 |
1998 | 28 | 6 | 43 | 33 | 27 | 16 | 5 | 230.1 | 81 | 24 | 15 | 67 | 364 | 0.45 | 0.64 |
1999 | 23 | 9 | 38 | 30 | 23 | 11 | 1 | 223.1 | 97 | 46 | 31 | 54 | 314 | 0.97 | 0.67 |
TOTALS | 72 | 23 | 115 | 92 | 78 | 41 | 10 | 658.2 | 327 | 134 | 99 | 205 | 896 | 1.05 | 0.81 |
Team USA Olympic Games[edit]
YEAR | W | L | GP | GS | CG | SHO | SV | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | ERA | WHIP |
1996 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 9.2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 15 | 0.00 | 0.54 |
2000 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 16.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 23 | 0.00 | 0.50 |
TOTALS | 4 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 25.2 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 38 | 0.00 | 0.51 |
National Pro Fastpitch Texas Thunder[edit]
YEAR | W | L | GP | GS | CG | SHO | SV | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | ERA | WHIP |
2004 | 14 | 6 | 21 | 19 | 17 | 10 | 0 | 142.1 | 64 | 21 | 13 | 38 | 132 | 0.64 | 0.72 |
2005 | 17 | 5 | 24 | 23 | 18 | 7 | 1 | 157.1 | 85 | 24 | 17 | 37 | 172 | 0.75 | 0.77 |
2006 | 11 | 8 | 26 | 20 | 12 | 3 | 1 | 142.2 | 103 | 45 | 35 | 59 | 161 | 1.72 | 1.14 |
TOTALS | 42 | 19 | 71 | 62 | 47 | 20 | 2 | 442.1 | 252 | 90 | 65 | 134 | 465 | 1.03 | 0.87 |
References[edit]
- ^ "Some of softball's Finest inducted Into National Softball Hall of Fame At 38th Annual Induction Ceremony". Teamusa.org. 2018-10-27. Retrieved 2018-11-03.
- ^ "1997 Louisville Slugger/NFCA Division I All-America Teams". Nfca.org. Retrieved 2020-07-07.
- ^ "Pac 12 Conference 2020 Softball Media Guide". E-digitaleditions.com. Retrieved 2010-07-07.
- ^ "Division I Softball Championship Record Book" (PDF). Nfca.org. Retrieved 2020-07-07.
- ^ "UCLA WCWS Stats". Ncaa.org. Retrieved 2020-07-07.
- ^ "1998 Louisville Slugger/NFCA Division I All-America Teams". Nfca.org. Retrieved 2020-07-07.
- ^ "1999 Louisville Slugger/NFCA Division I All-America Teams". Nfca.org. Retrieved 2020-07-07.
- ^ "Big 12 Record Book" (PDF). Big12sports.com. Retrieved 2020-07-07.CS1 maint: location (link)
- ^ "Thunder shut out Racers in season opener". Profastpitch.com. Archived from the original on 2015-09-05. Retrieved 2020-07-07.
- ^ "Christa Williams Game Log 2005 Summer". Profastpitch.com. Retrieved 2020-07-07.
- ^ "Final 1997 Softball Statistics Report" (PDF). Ncaa.org. Retrieved 2018-06-19.
- ^ "Final 1998 Softball Statistics Report" (PDF). Ncaa.org. Retrieved 2018-06-19.
- ^ "Final 1999 Softball Statistics Report" (PDF). Ncaa.org. Retrieved 2018-06-19.
- ^ "Olympic Games Atlanta, Georgia". Teamusa.org. Retrieved 2018-06-27.
- ^ "Olympic Games Sydney, Australia". Teamusa.org. Retrieved 2018-06-27.
- ^ "Individual Leader Board". Profastpitch.com. Retrieved 2018-11-03.
- Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Christa Williams". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 2020-04-17.
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- 1978 births
- Living people
- Softball players from Texas
- Olympic softball players of the United States
- Softball players at the 1996 Summer Olympics
- Softball players at the 2000 Summer Olympics
- Olympic gold medalists for the United States in softball
- Texas Longhorns softball players
- Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics
- Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics
- Sportspeople from Houston
- UCLA Bruins softball players
- American Olympic medalist stubs
- American softball biography stubs