Golf: Repeat of his rare feat impresses Segrest

When James Segrest was a high school junior at Bangs in 1954, he pulled off one of the most impressive feats in Texas track and field history.

Segrest won the Class B team state title by himself.

He knows other Texas athletes matched his feat, but he never tried to contact them.

Until this year.

Rochelle's Bonnie Richardson won four events and took second in another to capture the Class 1A team title without the help of a teammate.

This time, Segrest sent a card to congratulate Richardson.

"This girl is from the same place that my mom and dad were from, and my sister lives there," Segrest said. "She was a junior this year, and I was a junior when I did it. It was amazing that she did it. She has another chance to do it next year."

Richardson told the Associated Press in May that she had no idea a solitary state title was even possible, which must come with the territory.

Segrest's feat took him by surprise in 1954, too.

"I had no idea until the end of meet," Segrest said. "They called for the Bangs team to come to the stand, and I thought, ‘Why am I going up there?' "

Segrest, the head coach at Odessa College from 1973-1987, still follows track and field closely, so closely that it was hard to pull himself away from the TV to compete in the third annual Larry Johnson Celebrity Golf Tournament Monday.

With the U.S. Track and Field Olympic Team Trials in full swing, Segrest has been glued to the TV for the past few days.

He has been keeping a close eye on sprinter Tyson Gay, who turned in a wind-aided 9.68 seconds in the 100-meter dash Sunday, which is the fastest a sprinter has ever covered the distance. Gay's time doesn't count as a world record because he ran with a tailwind that was too strong.

Segrest was pulling for Gay because he is coached by former sprinter Jon Drummond, who won an Olympic gold medal as part of the U.S. 400 relay in 2000.

Segrest coached Drummond at Odessa College from 1987-1988.

"We still talk all the time," Segrest said. "We don't really talk about coaching, but we talk about his time at Odessa College and his career."