Bill Keegan and his four teammates toed the line behind the University of South Florida's Beta Hall, preparing to take on Florida State in the school's first ever intercollegiate race on September 25, 1965. They would run through a make-shift course in the woods that was cleared in the days leading up to the race, proudly donning their white uniforms. It was everything that collegiate sports are about despite the result.
"We got creamed," Keegan joked.
But, it wasn't about the outcome. It was about the process, being out there with a group of teammates you had built a bond with, and for Keegan, that bond was forged with Dave Bower, Lindsey du Guhery, John Williams and Ed Woodstuff.
Keegan returned to the USF campus on Saturday, 45 years later, to honor those teammates. He took to the track at the USF Track & Field Stadium at 10 a.m., the exact start time of the inaugural race, for a ceremonial lap.
"It was a great feeling," Keegan explained. "It brought back all those memories of my time as a student here. I wish the other four guys could have been here with me, but I know they're here in spirit."
The group's relationship started at the beginning of the 1965 fall semester. Keegan was fresh out of Bishop Moore High School in Orlando, Fla. He and a fellow freshman, du Guhery, who had just completed his prep career at Winter Park High School in Orlando, joined up with sophomores Bower, who was also a Winter Park grad, Williams, another Orlando native and graduate of Colonial High school, and junior Ed Woodstuff, who came to USF from the west coast.
The four Orlando natives were familiar with each other, having competed in the Metro Conference back in their hometowns, and they wanted to continue their competitive running. So, they linked up with Woodstuff and Dr. Gil Hertz, who at the time was the athletic director. He would serve as coach of the cross country team and got the program up and running right away. But, the boys didn't know what they were in for.
"That first day of practice, none of us had run on a college team," explained Keegan. "None of us knew what to expect. Could we do it? Could we make it?"
They were about to find out.
Dr. Hertz loaded the group into his station wagon and shuttled them over to nearby King High School because they had decent training facilities. He had them run intervals, 220s, 65 second 440s, rest for about five or six seconds and then they'd do it again. It went on and on until Hertz said they were done.
"I thought it was a pretty hard workout," Keegan explained. "The rest of the guys thought so too, but we were happy we made it through."
But, Hertz meant they were done with that portion of the workout. As he hopped back in the station wagon and drove off, he yelled to the group of five that he would see them back at campus, expecting them to jog back and finish the workout he had planned.
"We were in total shock," remembered Keegan. "It must have taken 10 or 15 seconds before we could get a word out. I'll never forget that day as long as I live."
From that first day, the group's bond formed and it would continue to grow throughout the fall. They'd go on to compete in that first race against Florida State and approximately eight more races during the season.
Then, in March of 1966, the group was honored as the first lettermen in USF history along with the soccer team.
"We were so proud to get a college letter," Keegan said. "Lindsey and I had just graduated from high school. I don't think we realized until after the banquet that we were the first freshmen to get a varsity letter from a four-year state university because all the other schools had freshman teams. They would run their own race and Lindsey and I would run with the varsity against the other varsities. We thought that was kind of neat."
As spring turned to summer, Keegan and du Guhery would blaze another trail. The duo, along with Bill Moore, who had started training with the cross country team in the fall but didn't compete, were all taking summer classes. The track at USF had just recently been completed and the trio, who were all fraternity brothers, was asked to christen it by taking part in an extended race against time. The organizers laid out a course that would start and end with laps around the track with a tour of the campus' surrounding areas sandwiched in between. The runners were looking to run 13.5 miles in under two hours and 20 minutes.
The trio started the race with the first ever lap on a track at USF. Steadily, they notched mile after mile and everything was going well until they returned to campus. Moore saw a piece of shade under a tree just after turning off Fowler Ave. and he told du Guhery he was done, but that they should continue on. Not wanting to leave him behind, the guys got Moore on to the hood of a car that was traveling around with the runners, leaving Keegan and du Guhery to press on.
The remaining two worked their way back to the track and ended up finishing in about two hours and eight minutes. Completely exhausted, they crossed the finish line with their hands in the air and a photo that would eventually end up in the Tampa Tribune captured not only those two celebrating, but showed Moore on the car, completely spent from the rigors of the course.
"That picture couldn't demonstrate more, when you talk about a student-athlete giving everything he's got for his school," explained Keegan. "Bill was actually the true winner. Lindsey and I were still standing."
It's an interesting perspective on what it means to be a student-athlete, but one thing is certain, the University of South Florida was the winner today, thanks to Keegan and the group of trailblazers who graced this campus 45 years ago.
