NEW ORLEANS – Legendary UC Davis cross country and track and field coach Sue Williams will be inducted into the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Hall of Fame, the organization announced on Thursday.
Williams, who was inducted into the Cal Aggie Athletics Hall of Fame in 2014, will be enshrined at the 2022 USTFCCCA Coaches Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony Presented by REKORTAN on Tuesday, December 13, at the USTFCCCA Convention, held at the Gaylord Rockies Resort Hotel and Convention Center outside of Denver, Colorado.
Williams earned her bachelor's degree in physical education from Arkansas State in 1968, her master's in physical education from Central Arkansas in 1975 and completed doctoral studies in education at Penn State in 1979. She began at UC Davis in 1973, beginning the women's cross country program upon her arrival and leading it to varsity status five years later. In 1990, Williams assumed head coaching duties for the men's team.
The combined successes of those programs were extraordinary. The Aggie women advanced to the NCAA Division II Championships every year from 1981 - the first year the NCAA began sponsoring women's athletics - until 2002, UC Davis' final year of eligibility at the Division II level. That streak, along with top 10 finishes in all but one year, are NCAA records. The Aggies finished second in 1991 for their best-ever placing at the national finals, also finishing third in 1982, 1988, 1994, 2000 and 2001. UC Davis finished among the top five an impressive nine times.
Williams enjoyed similar success with the men's program. The Aggies earned berths in the NCAA Championships 10 times, finishing among the top 16 in each appearance. Their best showing came in 1991 when the Aggies took fourth - which combined with the women's runner-up finish - earned UC Davis the title of "Program of the Year." The Aggie men's last three years at the Division II finals resulted in two fifth-place and one eighth-place showing.
Both UC Davis teams dominated conference competition, with the women grabbing 20 conference titles in 22 years and the men enjoying a stretch of nine consecutive conference championships. Williams also served as head track coach for 15 years in the 1970s and 1980s and was later an assistant coach for distance runners with the program. Several of her athletes earned All-American accolades, conference athlete-of-the-year honors and academic distinction as well.
Williams served as a member of the NCAA Track and Field Committee, was chair of the cross country committee, and was a member of several other NCAA issues groups as well. Her contributions to NCAA cross country during the 1980's led to her being named the National Coach of the Decade. She received several conference and regional coaching honors throughout her career as well.
