Williams continues father's championship legacy on the track
10/12/2020 9:26:00 AM | Track & Field
ABILENE - Even at a school like Abilene Christian, where legacy kids are celebrated, it's not every day one family produces multiple conference championships. However, for the Williams family, those dreams became a reality after Avery Williams captured a conference championship for the Wildcats' storied track and field program, following in his father's footsteps.
After former ACU sprinter, Arthur Williams ('86), wrapped up a standout career for the Wildcats, his son, Avery, a graduate student-athlete, joined the Wildcats over twenty year later. However, track was not always in Avery's plans.
During his junior year of high school, Avery was focused on football, having run only the mile relay in track. Entering his senior year, his father encouraged him to look at track as an opportunity to get a scholarship.
"I told him, we should start training in the individual races instead of just the relays," Arthur said. "Every evening we would go get some extra training to help prepare him for individual races. Within about three weeks his times started getting better."
Avery's quick progression led to him capturing the district and area championships in the 400 meter dash, while placing third at the regional meet and qualifying for the state championships in the mile relay. Following his district championship he started receiving scholarship offers from various schools to run track in college.
"My dad had run track and he was pretty fast back in the 80s, so I said why not go to ACU, that's where he went," Avery said.
Avery entered ACU as a 400 meter specialist, while occasionally competing in the 200 meter dash, but his father, a 200 meter specialist, wanted to increase his son's speed and began training him in the 200 meter dash. While Avery posted consistent 400 meter times upon his arrival at ACU, he attempted his first 200 meter dash at the collegiate level and began increased training to help with his speed.
After a discouraging freshman outdoor season, Avery's motivation rose as he increased his training in both the weight room and on the track. His hard work paid off as he recorded a conference championship in the 400 meter dash and 4x400 meter relay during his sophomore year. Avery has five Southland Conference gold medals through seven championship appearances, including four-straight wins with the 1600-meter relay.
"We were both conference champs, so that's something we could both brag about," Arthur said. "It's something I never would have thought, but it's neat seeing it."
Arthur ended his ACU career (1982-86) as ACU's record holder in the 200 meter dash (20.56) and the 4x100 meter (39.20) and 4x400 meter relays (3:03.38), earning a conference championship in the 4x400 meter relay in 1984.
"It's pretty neat when I'm there at his track meets," Arthur said. "It's still hard to believe sometimes."
Despite Avery's success on the track, his athletic journey has provided numerous benefits, while being able to connect with a wide range of Wildcats.
"I have a lot better time management trying to balance track and school, but it has also given me a family, a track family," Avery said. "These are people I can trust and I can talk to and connect with. There's great joy when people come up to you and they're like, 'Oh, you're an athlete.' They ask you your times and you get to tell them and they kind of look at you in a way like they're proud of you. In a sense, they are happy for your success."
Avery graduated last year with his bachelor's degree in criminal justice, but has one more semester of eligibility, where he is continuing his athletic career and pursuing his master's degree in education.
"[Avery] graduated last year, and I graduated in 1986, so it's neat to see that legacy continue," Arthur said.
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