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Clarendon native Roy Williams III was inducted into the 2021 Hall of Fame Class last week at Texas Christian University.

The TCU Block T Association announced this year’s honorees, the 53rd class to be inducted, were Williams ‘01 (men’s track and field) along with Michael Cannon ‘86 (men’s track and field), Jamie MacCurdy Kizer ‘02 (women’s swimming and diving), and Victor Payne ‘02 (football).

Induction ceremonies took place Thursday, September 23, with the class recognized at the September 25 home football game versus SMU.

“This was something I have always wanted since I went on a recruiting trip to TCU as a senior in high school,” Williams told the Enterprise. “That’s what I wanted was to be recognized with the athletes I saw in that Hall of Fame. Now, this is the cherry on top of my athletic career.”

Running track on an athletic scholarship at TCU, Williams was a 2000 NCAA Champion in the 4×400 and a national runner-up in 1998. A three-time All-American, he was on the winning 4×400 at the 2000 Penn Relays. He was a 10-time All-WAC recipient and the 2000 and 2001 champion in the 400m. He was also on three WAC Championship 4×400 teams (1998-00).

Williams, who graduated from Clarendon High School in 1997, said last week’s induction was a great honor for him but even more meaningful for him was the inspiration he hopes it gives to his son and nephew.

“For my son and my sister’s son to see that and to maybe give them some motivation was more meaningful than the induction itself was,” he said.

Hard work in high school led him to get a scholarship to TCU, a place he choose to attend not just to run track but to be challenged by his teammates to continue to improve himself.

“There were five Olympians on the field with me the first day of practice when I went to TCU,” he said. “We pushed each other from day one.”

Following his graduation, Williams coached at All Saints Episcopal School, the University of Texas at Arlington, and Texas Tech University before going to work at Joshua ISD eight years ago, where he now serves as the Performance Development Advisor.

“I work with every sport we have to develop workouts just for them – not just track but football, volleyball, cheerleading, band, everything,” he said.

Williams’ theme that he often repeats to his students is “Hard work pays off.” He says his own success and last week’s induction helps his students see that his mantra is true.

“They can see that if they put in the work, it pays off,” he said.

Although his competitive track career is behind him, Williams has found new ways to compete athletically to continue to improve himself as well as serve as a role model for younger athletes.

He said getting off of an “athletic routine” was something he found difficult, so six years ago he started competing in body building and turned to professional competitions two years ago.

“It’s something you can do as long as you want,” he said.

Williams was also pleased that his parents and siblings were able to attend last week’s induction.

“Those five people motivated me and cheered me on my whole life. It would have been a really big disappointment if they could not have celebrated that with me.”

The Crosstimber Ranch team from Mustang, Okla., repeated its performance as the overall champion of the 27th annual Col. Charles Goodnight Chuckwagon Cookoff last Saturday, September 25, at the Saints’ Roost Museum.

Returning from its championship win in 2020, the Crosstimber team competed against seven other wagons at this year’s cookoff. Ten wagons were originally scheduled to compete, but two had to pull out prior to the event. The wagons served 465 people this year, down from 615 last year when 15 wagons competed.

Crosstimber placed in four out of five cooking categories, was second in Overall Cooking, and third in Wagon & Camp to clinch the overall title and take home the custom cutting board designed by Clarendon artist Jack Craft.

The J Bar D Wagon team of Amarillo placed first in Wagon & Camp, and the Honey-Do Spoiler Wagon from Pampa won the Overall Cooking.

The 14th annual Junior Cookoff the day before the big event drew five contestants, who were paired with experienced wagon teams to prepare potatoes for the cooks’ dinner Friday night. Henry Robertson, age 9, from Clarendon was first place, cooking with Camp Cookie. Jahred Phares, age 11, from Providence was second place, working with the Lazy M Cookers, and Presley Hill, age 13, from Lakewood Village was third, cooking with the Crosstimber team.
Other junior participants included Gus Boedecker, age 10, from Lockney, cooking with the Cocklebur Camp, Teagan Chesser, age 9, from Clarendon, cooking with the Honey-Do Spoiler. The Junior Cookoff is sponsored by the American Chuckwagon Association.

The dinner Friday night held for the wagon teams and museum supporters fed 114 people.

The trade show was held throughout the day Saturday, and live entertainment was provided.
Competing wagons served a menu of chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, gravy, biscuits, beans, and cobbler. Wagons came from as far as Tennessee and Colorado to attend this year’s cookoff.

Prizes totaling $3,250 were paid out to the winners. Complete results were:

Overall Wagon & Cooking: 1) Crosstimber Ranch.

Overall Cooking: 1) Honey-Do Spoiler of Pampa., 2) Crosstimber Ranch of Mustang, Okla., 3) Camp Cookie of Germantown, Tenn., and 4) Lazy M Cookers of Lamar, Colo.

Best Wagon & Camp: 1) J Bar D Ranch of Amarillo, 2) Cocklebur Camp of Odessa, 3) Crosstimber, and 4) Double Nichols of Amarillo.

Best Meat: 1) J Bar D, 2) Double Nichols, 3) Cocklebur, and 4) Texas Back Then Wagon of Vernon.

Best Beans: 1) Crosstimber, 2) Honey Do Spoiler, 3) Cocklebur, and 4) Lazy M.

Best Potatoes: 1) Honey Do Spoiler, 2) Crosstimber, 3) Lazy M, and 4) Texas Back Then.

Best Bread: 1) Camp Cookie, 2) Honey Do Spoiler, 3) Crosstimber, and 4) Lazy M.

Best Dessert: 1) Camp Cookie, 2) Honey Do Spoiler, 3) Crosstimber, and 4) Cocklebur.