James Lewis Segrest (’59), a Texas high school track and field legend and the last surviving member of world record-setting Abilene Christian University relay teams of the mid-1950s, died Aug. 5, 2023, in Fort Worth, Texas, at age 86. Friends and family remembered him in a memorial service Aug. 12 in Granbury, Texas.
Segrest was born Nov. 14, 1936, in Brady, Texas, and grew up in Bangs, near Brownwood. He earned a B.S.Ed. degree from ACU and a master’s degree, and wed classmate Ellie Katherine Neal (’58) on Sept. 1, 1956.
His performance in the 1954 Texas Class A track and field championship is singular in the state’s high school history, especially considering he was injured just a few months earlier in a serious car accident. A 17-year-old junior, he won the 100-yard, 220-yard and 440-yard dashes, and finished fourth in the long jump to score 34 points as Bangs High School’s only representative in the meet, winning the state title by himself while wearing a knee brace and earning the “One-Man Gang From Bangs” nickname. He also set state records in the 220 and 440.
“I didn’t have any idea I could win (the team title), but I thought I could win my races,” Segrest recalled in a 1984 interview with The Odessa American about his state meet heroics. “Then, I heard on the radio we (Bangs) were one of the favorites and I thought, ‘Hey, wait a minute. I’m the only one here.’ ”
ACU head coach Oliver Jackson (’42) recruited him to run with fellow freshman sprinters Bobby Morrow (’58) and Waymond Griggs (’58), and the trio starred on standout relay teams at Abilene Christian that set five world records. In 1957, the quartet of Morrow, Segrest, Griggs and Bill Woodhouse (’59) became the first to run the 440-yard relay in under 40 seconds, breaking the NCAA, American and world records with a time of 39.9. They later reset those records with a 39.7 in 1958.
During his four-year ACU career, the Wildcats had a record of 52-9 in the 440 and 880 relays, and Segrest ran in all 61 races. His best times were 9.7 for 100 yards, 20.7 for 220 yards and 47.7 for 440 yards. In 1958, he was a member of the U.S. national team that participated in the first dual meet against the Soviet Union in Lenin Stadium in Moscow, and he also competed in Poland, Hungary and Greece.
He began his high school track and field coaching career by guiding Monahans (Texas) to the 1966 Class AAA state championship and also was head coach at Odessa (Texas) Permian. He served as the head coach (1973-88) and director of athletics (1988-95) at Odessa (Texas) College, where his teams won 11 National Junior College Athletic Association national championships – five indoor and six outdoor – and were runner-up three other times. He was head coach of the U.S. track and field team in the 1979 World University Games in Mexico City, and named a Runner’s World magazine All-Star Coach in 1984.
As part of a major fundraising campaign, Odessa College dedicated its new James Segrest Stadium for track and field, and football, in his honor.
Segrest was inducted to the NJCAA Track and Field Hall of Fame (1989), ACU Sports Hall of Fame (1991), United States Track Coaches Association Hall of Fame (1996), Texas Sports Hall of Fame Class (2005), Western Junior Athletic Conference Hall of Fame (2005), Big Country Athletic Hall of Fame (2013), and Bangs High School Hall of Honor (2021).
He was preceded in death by his parents, Excell and Louise Segrest; Kathy, his wife of 64 years; a daughter, Tammy Segrest; and a sister, Linda Fay (Segrest ’68) Granberry. Among survivors are his daughter, Cindi Williams, and her husband, Wes Williams (’85); a grandson, Josh; and a niece, Traci Feazelle.
– Ron Hadfield
Aug. 14, 2023