Former TCU track star turned body builder part of school’s 2021 Hall of Fame class
.jpeg "Former TCU track and field star Roy Williams is part of the university’s 2021 Hall of Fame class. Williams won a NCAA championship as a member of TCU’s 4x400 relay team in 2000.")
Roy Williams loved being part of the team that won TCU’s first NCAA indoor relay title in 2000.
The Horned Frogs’ 4x400-meter team featured all Texans and outran schools such as Oklahoma, Arkansas and USC that had runners from across the world.
“Us being all from Texas was the most meaningful thing,” Williams said. “The football team had a saying, ‘We’re all we need.’ Ours was, ‘We’re all we have.’ For us to be able to go down there and beat those teams … that was one of my greatest accomplishments.”
Williams added another lifetime accomplishment by being inducted into TCU’s Hall of Fame. Williams was one of six members of the 2021 class formally inducted during a ceremony Thursday night. The class will be recognized during the football game against SMU on Saturday.
Along with Williams, TCU recognized fellow track and field athletes Michael Cannon and Nolan Brawley, who was the “vintage” inductee; swimmer Jamie MacCurdy Kizer; football player Victor Payne; and longtime athletics administrator T. Ross Bailey in the newly created “special contributor” category.
Williams, who is from Clarendon, talked about choosing TCU and his desire to surround himself with elite-level runners. He found that in Fort Worth following in the footsteps of Cannon and with those who became his 4x400 teammates Anthony Amantine, Kendrick Campbell and Johnny L. Collins II.
The 4x400 quartet defeated OU by three-tenths of a second with a winning time of 3:06.69 seconds for the NCAA title in 2000. Williams closed his college career by being a three-time All-American.
Williams has since become a performance development advisor in Joshua ISD and is a competitive body builder. Seriously.
“It’s almost relatable to track. You’re up on the stage by yourself just like being on a track by yourself doing your thing,” Williams said. “I like being on the stage. I always thought being a 400-meter runner was the hardest thing I’d ever do until I got into bodybuilding.”
Cannon, meanwhile, helped put TCU on the map as being a school known for speed in the 1980s. He was a two-time All-American in both the 400 meters and 4x400-meter relay. Cannon set a TCU record in the 400 that stood for 19 years.
Cannon joked about his diet during his college years, which consisted of a meatball sandwich and carton of milk from 7-11. In all seriousness, Cannon expressed gratitude for being inducted into such an exclusive club.
“I’m proud of being a part of that foundation,” he said.
Brawley told his story of being a farm boy from Weatherford who relished the opportunity to compete at the college level and earn a degree. He went on to have a successful career with Pfizer.
“I was very fortunate to go to TCU,” Brawley said. “I owe everything to TCU.”
MacCurdy Kizer was TCU’s athlete of the year for all sports in 2002 and the school’s most valuable swimmer for her entire four-year collegiate career. She came from a swimming family and had a longtime relationship with former TCU coach Richard Sybesma.
MacCurdy Kizer raved about the family-like atmosphere of the program as she only knew Sybesma when she walked on campus.
The same can be said for Payne, who came to TCU from the small town of Jasper. Payne and the offensive line that paved the way for LaDainian Tomlinson liked to refer to themselves as the “BMF,” Payne told the crowd. Big Man Fraternity, or something along those lines.
Payne helped turn a football team that went 1-10 in 1997 into a team that defeated USC in the Sun Bowl in 1998.
Tomlinson passed along a message that he always looked to run behind Payne’s No. 78 when the Frogs were in goal-line situations.
Bailey received well-deserved recognition for his six-decade association with TCU. He started as the trainer, earning a personal shout-out from Williams, and went on to become the senior associate athletics director for facilities and operations until his retirement in December.
“The great thing for me is the students I worked with, I now get to call colleagues,” Bailey said. “And the student-athletes that I helped are now friends.”
