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Sarah Williams high-fives spectators as she carries the Olympic Flame on Day 52 of the London 2012 Torch Relay as it passes through Buckingham, England, on Monday, July 9, 2012. Coca-Cola selected Williams, 19, of Pleasanton, to participate in the torch run because of her work on behalf of foster children. (Courtesy London 2012)

A 19-year-old Pleasanton woman who spearheaded a project to create 20,000 blankets for foster children got a brief turn under the world spotlight Monday when she carried the Olympic flame in England during the games' torch relay.

Sarah Williams ran two consecutive relay legs in the town of Buckingham near Oxford as the torch moves closer toward London for the July 27 start of the 2012 Olympic Games.

When another torch bearer couldn't make it, Williams agreed to run a second leg as well.

Large British crowds lined the route and cheered on the runners.

"It was an amazing honor to receive such a warm British welcome," Williams said in an e-mail after her run. "Truly once in a lifetime opportunity."

She ran about eight minutes in all, but it was a shining moment for her Creative Kindness project that relies on volunteers to give decorative touches to blankets for foster children.

Before flying home, Williams plans to show a local Girl Scout troop in England how to make blankets and pass on a blanket making kit to others.

"Sarah is very humble," said her mom, Cindy Williams, who watched her daughter's run on an Internet feed.

Williams, a student at Scripps College in Claremont, was one of 22 Americans named Olympic torchbearers by the Coca Cola Co. for making a difference.

Another torch bearer named by Coca Cola -- Kylan Nieh, 19, of Fremont -- will jog with the flame in Andover, England on Wednesday.

Nieh, a

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UC Berkeley student, runs a national campaign to collect educational supplies for needy students.

His torch leg can be viewed at 8:38 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time at www.london2012.com/torch-relay/video/live.html.

Two other Bay Area residents who carried the torch earlier this month in Coventry, England, were Cynthia Guevara, 25, and David Wang, 28, both San Jose State University graduates and employees of The Crowne Plaza Hotel, San Jose/Silicon Valley.

Although she's not a torchbearer, Audrey Rumsby, 21, of San Jose, will play the harp and portray an acrobat in a circuslike tribute to the athletes during the Olympic and Paralympic Team Welcome Ceremonies in mid-July at the Olympic Village.

Rumsby will perform with the National Youth Theatre of Great Britain in shows for Olympic and ParaOlympic teams.

Contact Denis Cuff at 925-943-8267. Follow him at Twitter.com/deniscuff