Inez Turner (2019) - Hall of Honor - Texas State Athletics

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Inez Turner

Class
Induction

2019
Sport(s)

Track & Field

Former Olympian Inez Turner was a two-year letter winner for the Bobcat cross country and track and field teams from 1993-1995. Her two seasons in the Maroon and Gold were highlighted by dominate efforts at the national level, including two NCAA back to back championships in the 800m run with a time of 2:01.50 in 1994 and a school record of 2:00.27 in 1995. She secured 13 title races at the historic Penn Relays, set two World Junior records at the Penn Relays, was named Penn Relays Athlete of the Meet three times and was a five-time Penn Relays Wall of Famer. She also collected two Southland Conference Athlete of the Year accolades and was a team captain for the Bobcats.

Gallery: (1-1-2020) Inez Turner Hall of Honor

She began her prestigious running career at Barton Community College. While competing for the Cougars, Turner racked up 16 National Junior College All-America honors. Turner holds several school records at Barton to this day, including the outdoor 400m dash, the indoor 800m run, the indoor 880y run, the indoor 1,000m run, and she was a member of the two fastest indoor and outdoor 4x800m relay teams. She also holds the second fastest outdoor 800m run time at Barton.

Turner won the 1993 Division I NJCAA Championship in the 800m run with a time of 2:04.88, a time that remains the fastest time ever run in the event at the championship level. She also was a key member of the 4x800m relay team that secured an NJCAA national championship with a record time of 8:39.27.

At Texas State, Turner delivered school-record performances in both the outdoor 400m dash (52.57) and the outdoor 800m run (2:01.50). She stands second in the indoor 800m run (2:05.51) and third in the indoor 400m dash (54.25). She ran the opening leg, the 1,200m split, of the Distance Medley Relay in 1995, a squad that produced the sixth fastest time in the event in school history at 12:00.24. The time held as the school record until being topped in 2007.

Turner was named the 1994 Southland Conference Outstanding Track Performer and Athlete of the Year before being tabbed the co-athlete of the year in the 1995 season. During the indoor portion of the season, Turner claimed the 1995 open 400m Southland Conference championship and was a member of the 4x400m relay squad. Turner would go on to capture Gold at the Southland Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships in 1994 in the open 400m dash, the 800m run, and the 4x400m relay. She would repeat as conference champion in the 800m run and the 4x400m relay in ’95.

Upon graduating from Texas State, Turner competed in the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta for Jamaica. She was a member of the fourth place 4x400m relay team and competed in the 800m run as an individual. She edged out a Gold medal in the 1994 Commonwealth Games in the 800m run with a time of 2:01.74. She also won a Bronze medal at the 1997 World Championships in Athens, Greece as a member of the 4x400m relay team. She competed in the CARIFTA (Caribbean Free Trade Association) Games from 1988-91 and won seven Gold medals and two Silver medals in the 400m dash, 800m run, and 4x400m relay between the Junior and Youth divisions. She was aloso the first athlete from an English-speaking Caribbean country to run a sub 2 minutes in the 800m.

Turner has been enshrined in both the Penn Relays and National Junior College Hall of Fames and was named ISA Athlete of the Decade for the 1980’s.

She graduated from Texas State with a Bachelor of Science Degree in exercise and sports science in ’95. She has been coaching track and field since 2004 with stops at New York Elite Track Club, North Carolina A&T, and head coaching jobs at both Winston Salem State University and Fayetteville State University. IN 2018 Turner was named the Central Intercollegiate Athletics Association Collegiate Cross Country Coach of the Year. While at Winston Salem State University she won eight CIAA Conference Championships and was named Coach of the Year eight times.

In 2012, Turner established the Inez Turner Foundation to raise funds for Vere Technical High School to assist disadvantaged students. She has been the keynote speaker at the US-JA International College Fair, an organization that aids in help with third world countries, three times. She has also been active with community outreach with both the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association and at Winston Salem State University.

Inez is married to Mark Adams. They have six children, Dwight Gray, Jr., Dwight Gray II, Tayanna Turner Gray, Kemora Turner Gray, Mark Anthony II and Hannah Faith Adams.

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