Nekita Eppes (formerly Nekita Beasley) at the UF Athletics Hall of Fame induction ceremony.
Eppes, Walker Reminisce as Hall of Famers
Tuesday, November 6, 2018 | Track and Field
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Josh Walker sat in Holloway Touchdown Terrace for one of his first meetings as a student-athlete, gazing at the numerous plaques of Florida Athletics Hall of Fame inductees adorning the walls.
It felt like yesterday he set out for Gainesville from his hometown of Stone Mountain, Ga. Flurries of memories came back to Walker throughout the familiar five-hour drive down I-75, making the journey this time around to join the many faces on the wall.
"Being a student-athlete at UF, you always come in your freshman year and always went through just about every photo that was up for all the previous athletes in the Hall of Fame," Walker said ahead of his own induction last Friday. "I'm extremely humbled, because there are some amazing athletes that have gone before me."
Nekita Eppes (formerly Nekita Beasley), a four-time individual national champion who joined Walker in the nine-member Florida Athletics Hall of Fame class, did much more than echo that sentiment.
"When you're growing up, you don't ever know how life is going to turn out, what milestones you're going to cover," she said. "Just the fact my name is going to be on the wall with other great people … it's one of the greatest accomplishments I ever achieved."
Both left an incredible legacy on the track.
Back in 2004, Walker became the first Gator to win the 110-meter hurdles national championship, breaking the school record in the process. He captured the title the following year, too. Walker's most memorable victory, though, was the 2004 SEC Indoor Championships. Behind Walker's title in the 60-meter hurdles and a slew of surprise performances across a number of events, Florida ended Arkansas' seven-year reign as champions.
"It wasn't just the guys we expected to show up and perform, but the guys who clawed and fought to get fifth and sixth place that were able to win us that championship," Walker said. "That was a big thing for me. It was definitely a team championship."
Eppes helped Florida's women capture the only team national title in school history at the 1992 NCAA Indoor Championships. In addition to winning a pair of national titles with 4x400 relay teams, Eppes won consecutive NCAA titles in the 800 meters. The first, in 1991, remains an indelible memory, as she held off Tennessee's Jasmin Jones by six hundredths of a second.
"I didn't know what type of runner I was until that particular day," Eppes said.
Today, Eppes and Walker dedicate their time to helping others. The former is a behavioral program specialist for the Agency for Persons with Disabilities, while the latter works for the Atlanta Police Department as a member of its Homeless Outreach Proactive Enforcement Team, a group that works with the city's homeless and mentally ill and puts them in touch with service providers to assist with things such as housing and job placement.
They may be out of their uniforms and thriving in the real world these days, but both keep tabs on the program from afar. And doing so reminds them both why they loved their time at Florida so much.
"I was able to go to school, meet new people, just enjoy life," Eppes said. "Those were the most memorable things."
"I can sit back now and watch how the program has grown and how (Head) Coach (Mike) Holloway has molded it into what he is," Walker said. "He's a great coach, and more so, he's a friend. I definitely became a part of a larger family when I came to the University of Florida."
It felt like yesterday he set out for Gainesville from his hometown of Stone Mountain, Ga. Flurries of memories came back to Walker throughout the familiar five-hour drive down I-75, making the journey this time around to join the many faces on the wall.
"Being a student-athlete at UF, you always come in your freshman year and always went through just about every photo that was up for all the previous athletes in the Hall of Fame," Walker said ahead of his own induction last Friday. "I'm extremely humbled, because there are some amazing athletes that have gone before me."
Nekita Eppes (formerly Nekita Beasley), a four-time individual national champion who joined Walker in the nine-member Florida Athletics Hall of Fame class, did much more than echo that sentiment.
"When you're growing up, you don't ever know how life is going to turn out, what milestones you're going to cover," she said. "Just the fact my name is going to be on the wall with other great people … it's one of the greatest accomplishments I ever achieved."
Both left an incredible legacy on the track.
Back in 2004, Walker became the first Gator to win the 110-meter hurdles national championship, breaking the school record in the process. He captured the title the following year, too. Walker's most memorable victory, though, was the 2004 SEC Indoor Championships. Behind Walker's title in the 60-meter hurdles and a slew of surprise performances across a number of events, Florida ended Arkansas' seven-year reign as champions.
"It wasn't just the guys we expected to show up and perform, but the guys who clawed and fought to get fifth and sixth place that were able to win us that championship," Walker said. "That was a big thing for me. It was definitely a team championship."
Eppes helped Florida's women capture the only team national title in school history at the 1992 NCAA Indoor Championships. In addition to winning a pair of national titles with 4x400 relay teams, Eppes won consecutive NCAA titles in the 800 meters. The first, in 1991, remains an indelible memory, as she held off Tennessee's Jasmin Jones by six hundredths of a second.
"I didn't know what type of runner I was until that particular day," Eppes said.
Today, Eppes and Walker dedicate their time to helping others. The former is a behavioral program specialist for the Agency for Persons with Disabilities, while the latter works for the Atlanta Police Department as a member of its Homeless Outreach Proactive Enforcement Team, a group that works with the city's homeless and mentally ill and puts them in touch with service providers to assist with things such as housing and job placement.
They may be out of their uniforms and thriving in the real world these days, but both keep tabs on the program from afar. And doing so reminds them both why they loved their time at Florida so much.
"I was able to go to school, meet new people, just enjoy life," Eppes said. "Those were the most memorable things."
"I can sit back now and watch how the program has grown and how (Head) Coach (Mike) Holloway has molded it into what he is," Walker said. "He's a great coach, and more so, he's a friend. I definitely became a part of a larger family when I came to the University of Florida."
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