Willie Williams Announces Retirement From Track And Field
April 20, 2000 | Men's Track & Field
April 20, 2000
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Men's Track and Field Associate Head Coach Willie Williams has announced his retirement, effective August 20. Williams wraps up his career at Illinois that spans 18 seasons as a coach and a collegiate career which recognizes him as one of the greatest Fighting Illini athletes of all time.
"Willie Williams has made an outstanding contribution not only to track, but to the entire University of Illinois community," said Ron Guenther, Director of Athletics. "He is one of our own, and has always put his loyalty to the University before anything else. I wish him the best, in his well-deserved retirement."
Since Williams began coaching at Illinois in 1982, he has helped the Illini achieve widespread success. The team has won seven Big Ten Championships and finished second another eleven times.
"It has been a great 18 years here working with Willie," said Head Coach Gary Wieneke. "Both professionally as a colleague, and personally as he is also one of my closest friends. We have some pretty big shoes to fill here, because Willie has done so much for this program."
Williams' legacy at Illinois began in 1950, when he came to Champaign from Gary, Indiana. Since NCAA rules at the time prohibited athletes from competition during their freshman seasons, Williams earned three Varsity "I" letters from 1952-1954.
He was the premier sprinter in the country, winning back-to-back national championships in the 100 yard dash in 1953 and 1954. The three-time All-American also racked up nine individual Big Ten Championships during his career, winning the 60 yard dash twice, the 70 yard hurdles twice, two titles in the 100 yard dash, and three more in the 220 yard dash.
As a team, Illinois won eight consecutive Big Ten Championships during Williams' athletic career, claiming every indoor and outdoor title from 1951 through 1954. That streak is still in the conference record books, tied with Michigan for the most consecutive team titles in the history of Big Ten Track and Field.
His track career extended internationally, where he won a gold medal at the 1955 Pan American Games in Mexico as part of the United States' 4x100 meter relay squad. Williams also broke the Pan American record in the 100 meter dash, running 10.30 in the semifinals. After earning a degree in physical education from Illinois in 1955, he then enrolled in the army.
In 1956, Williams earned the title of "World's Fastest Man." Competing at the International Military Meet, he won a gold medal by running 10.10 in the 100 meter dash. That broke the world record of 10.20 that Jesse Owens set in 1936. Running in the same lane of the same track in Berlin, Germany where Owens won four gold medals at the 1936 Summer Olympics, Williams broke his boyhood idol's record.
Williams had extra motivation to perform well in the meet, as earlier that summer an injury in the finals of the U.S. Olympic Trials kept him from reaching his Olympic aspirations. The International Military Meet was Williams' opportunity to represent the United States at the world-level.
"That was my chance to show everyone what kind of a runner I was," Williams said. "Nothing can top being able to break the record of the greatest sprinter in the world, who had held the record for twenty years. It was a great feeling of pride to compete that day and is without a doubt the highlight of my track career."
Williams stayed in track and field after his running days were over. He returned home to Gary and began coaching at the elementary school level and moved his way up. He coached basketball and football in addition to track. As a high school coach, he led West Side High to five state titles and helped propel many student-athletes to compete collegiately. West Side's 4x400 meter relay team still holds the Indiana State record, and all four members of that team went on to run at Big Ten schools. Williams also continued his education, earning his masters degree from Indiana University in health education.
In the fall of 1982, Williams rejoined the Fighting Illini program to coach the sprints, hurdles, and sprint relays. He was part of the 1988 Summer Olympic games, as coach of the Saudi Arabian track team. In 1997, Williams was named Associate Head Coach of men's track and field team.
During his career at Illinois, he has coached ten All-Americans and 29 Big Ten individual champions and since Williams' return, Illinois sprinters and hurdlers have broken every school record in those events.
The signature event at Illinois during the Williams era has been the 4x400 meter relay. Illinois has won an amazing 13 Big Ten Championships in the mile relay under Williams' direction, including six of the past seven at conference indoor meets and a current streak of three straight.
"I have always felt a great deal of loyalty to Illinois and I'm proud of the success that our program has had over the years," Williams said. "But athletics is just part of the mix. We've had countless young men come here who have excelled on the track, earned their degrees, and have gone on to be successful individuals. To me, that is the most rewarding thing about being a coach."
Combining his illustrious athletic and coaching career at Illinois, Williams has been a part of 15 Big Ten team championships, 38 individual conference titles, and another 17 relay conference titles. Those unprecedented numbers help move him into an elite group of people that have been a part of collegiate track and field.
"It's been an honor representing the University of Illinois," says Williams. "I've had an exceptional experience working with our administration and alongside Gary Wieneke over the years. I'll forever be grateful to have been a part of Illinois athletics and Illinois Track and Field."
