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Spotlight on Former Athlete: Keisha Ray Owens-Williams Track & Field 1991-96

By Bruce Brown

BBrown@smgpo.gannett.com March 31, 2010

This story is a copyrighted enterprise by Bruce Brown.

Small package, big results.

That was Keisha Ray Owens-Williams, who earned an unprecedented 16 individual and relay titles in Sun Belt Conference track and field competition for Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajuns from 1991-96.

The diminutive sprinter from Vinton quickly became a pivotal part of history-making women’s teams at UL which won Sun Belt team titles and set standards that have yet to be topped.

"I was recruited by (then) USL and LSU, and I picked USL because of (assistant coach) Tommy Badon and the close-knit aspect of the program," she said. "I wanted to go where I knew I could make an impact. I wanted to be where I would be used.

"Realistically, very few track and field athletes go on to perform professionally, like Hollis Conway did. I wanted to make an impact, and to graduate."

A criminal justice graduate in 1996, Owens-Williams, is married to former LSU sprinter Bryant Williams and the couple lives in Clarksville, Tenn. with 11-year-old daughter Zion. He is stationed with the U.S. Army at nearby Fort Campbell, which sprawls across the Kentucky-Tennessee state line.

"When I was young, I was all over the place," Owens-Williams said of choosing a major in college. "Now I can say I love this field. I used to be a (U.S. Army substance abuse) counselor and now I’m  a probation officer. Life is not black-and-white. There are a lot of gray areas. I love what I do.

"Eventually, I want to get my masters degree and teach in the criminal justice field."
That goal is on temporary hold, but remains on the horizon.

"It’s hard with a family, being a mother, work," Owens-Williams said. "Zion is in the fifth grade now. She’s still amazing. Every day she brings something new to my life." Zion is currently into dance, but track and field remains an option.

"Sixth grade was when I started running track," Owens-Williams said. "She has the genetics for it. Track is hard work, but she doesn’t realize the fun she’ll have. I was more of a team person; she’s all ‘I, I’ so she can be in that 100 and 200, and it’s all you.

"We’ve had conversations about it since the day she was born. Bryant’s all for it."

It’s probably best to be in Tennessee if you’re going to run track as Owens-Williams’ daughter. She would be a tough act to follow in south Louisiana.

Owens-Williams took part in a UL track and field reunion during the March 20 Louisiana Classics, and it brought back fond memories.

"I’m still smiling from the reunion; my heart’s still beating from it," Owens-Williams said. "Even though we were missing a few, it was great to be part of the first track and field reunion, and to see people like Hollis, coach Badon, Lance Veazey. I hadn’t seen Tim  Lemaire in so long. JoJo Harris. It was great."

Owens-Williams has kept in close touch with D’Nais Jones Mack, but seeing Cecily Gulley and SuSu Jolivette again was a treat.

"I enjoyed winning titles, but the friendships have stayed with me longer," said Owens-Williams, a 2004 inductee into the UL Athletic Hall of Fame. "There are not a lot of meets that stayed with me. I remember some of the workouts.

"I was more of a team player, running on the 4×100 and 4×400 relays. For individual events, I’d run and get ready for the next one. I do remember my last race, the 4×400 relay my senior year. I ran third leg, and I was determined that we would win it no matter what."

Owens-Williams laughed when asked about her ability to focus on her sport and her classes at UL.
"I struggled academically," she admitted. "At the time, I didn’t know how to multi-task. Now, as a parent, I do it all the time."

When seen across campus, Owens-Williams often had a stern look on her face. That, it turns out, was largely a facade. "Some of that was insecurity," she said. "People used to tell me how serious I looked. But if they’d said, ‘Hi,’ I would have lit up and started talking with them."

Owens-Williams heeded lessons learned at UL and used them as a successful track and field coach at the high school level at Fort Campbell, and would like to do so again in the future.

"I had so much respect for coach Badon," she said. "He was honest from Day One. That’s what I need athletes to see in me. If you get that, they’ll trust you. He had a plan and you had to believe in it."
Her plan worked, too, as Owens-Williams’ team won a regional title. For now, though, Zion and family and work are enough to handle.

"Ten years from now, I’ll have my masters and Zion will be in college," Owens-Williams said. "We would love to be further down South, hopefully Texas. Bryant will retire soon from the military. I’ll go back to coaching again, and Bryant has always wanted to be a coach.

"I loved it at Fort Campbell. I was able to touch peoples’ lives."

Keisha Ray Owens-Williams seems to have that effect wherever she goes.

The above story is a copyrighted enterprise by Bruce Brown, February 12, 2010.

Information below was provided by the Athletic Network, Ed Dugas, Coordinator.

Click here for information on Keisha’s senior year at UL: http://athleticnetwork.net/picpopup.php?piclibID=10199

Click here for information on Keisha’s sophomore year at UL: http://athleticnetwork.net/picpopup.php?piclibID=6277

Click here for pictures and information on Keisha’s induction into the First Ragin’ Cajuns Lettermen’s Club Hall of Fame in 2004(the 2003 Hall of Fame Class was the last one for the S Club). http://athleticnetwork.net/site406.php

Click here for pictures of the First Annual Track & Field Reunion March 20, 2010 http://athleticnetwork.net/site.php?pageID=1820#  and scroll down for Keisha and her decade of track & field performers.

Click here for a picture of Keisha and the HOF inductees being presented at Cajun Field during half-time of Homecoming October 23, 2004 http://athleticnetwork.net/picpopup.php?piclibID=2140

Our rich athletic traditions were intrusted to the vision, hope, loyalty and dedicated of these former athletes and we will forever owe them a debt of sincere gratitude.  May God Bless each of them and their families. 

Anyone with information, materials, pictures, memorabilia, etc., of the university’s former athletic program participants is requested to contact Ed Dugas at athleticnetwork@louisiana.edu   Thank you.

The Photo Gallery Link located on the left side of the home page at http://www.athleticnetwork.net contains over 9,000 pictures of former and current athletes and support groups.  Just click on photo gallery and when the menu appears, click on the sport or support group you wish to view. The years of pictures posted for that team or group will appear and you may click on the year you wish to view. One click on a thumbnail picture or narrative and it is enlarged; a click on the enlarged photo and it reverts back to the thumbnail.

The Athletic Network seeks to post pictures of each team and support group for each year they represented the university.

 

The stories of the 2009 honorees are still included in the News Page and may be viewed by clicking on "more news" at the bottom right of the News Box, scrolling down, clicking on the title of the story. Those spotlight features which are no longer shown in the News Page, have been moved to the Lagniappe Link of the "History of UL Athletics" located on the left side of the home page.

 

The Spotlight on Former Athletes announcement has also been placed in the profile of each honoree, excluding the pictures.

The 2010 honorees in the Athletic Network "Spotlight on Former Athletes" include:
January – Andrew Toney Men’s Basketball 1976-80.
February – Orlando Thomas Football 1991-94.

March – Rocky Guidry Football 1990-93, Track & Field 1991-94

April – Track & Field Network & March 20, 2010 1st Annual Track & Field Reunion
May – Keisha Ray Owens Williams Track & Field 1991-96.

Ed Dugas, Coordinator
Athletic Network
athleticnetwork@louisiana.edu
(337)482-0999