ACU Track Legend James Segrest Passes

ABILENE – Abilene Christian mourns the loss of ACU Sports Hall of Fame track and field athlete James Segrest, who died on Saturday.
 
Funeral arrangements are pending.
 
Segrest was inducted into the ACU Sports Hall of Fame in 1991.
 
Under the guidance of Coach Oliver Jackson, Segrest was a member of the 440-yard and 880-yard relay teams at Abilene Christian which set five world records in three years. The Wildcats team of Bobby Morrow, Segrest, Bill Woodhouse and Waymond Griggs 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 in 1957. They later reset those records with a 39.7 in 1958. Segrest was also a member of the 1958 U.S. track team that participated in the first dual meet with the Soviet Union in Moscow.
 
He began his coaching career by guiding Monahans to the 1966 state championship. Segrest later served as the head track coach (1973-88) and athletic director (1988-95) at Odessa College. His teams won 11 NJCAA National Championships, five indoor (1981-85) and six outdoor (1981-86). He was selected to coach the World University Games in 1978 and is a member of the NJCAA Track & Field Hall of Fame (1989), He was inducted into the United States Track Coaches Association Hall of Fame (1996). And the Texas Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2005.