The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Hall of Honor
- Induction:
- 2019
- Class:
- 2000
A key cog in one of the most dominant NCAA Championship track & field runs in history, Denise LaKeisha Backus was an elite sprinter who helped Texas win four national team titles (1998 & 1999 indoor and outdoor) and finish second three other times during her four seasons with the Longhorns from 1996-99. The worst a UT team finished during her time on the Forty Acres was third at the 1996 NCAA indoor meet. The Longhorns also won seven conference crowns during her tenure (five Big 12, two Southwest Conference). Individually, Backus was an 11-time All-American, three-time National Champion and won nine conference titles. Her 22.59 clocking in the 200 meters (1998) still puts her fourth on the UT all-time performers list in that event, while her 11.11 in the 100 meters in 1998 still ranks her seventh-best in school history. Her name is listed on three of the 10 fastest 4x100-meter relays on UT record, including the school-record clocking of 42.76 in 1998. Her indoor time of 7.30 in the 60 meters (1999) ranks her 10th-best in school history. Backus was the 1998 NCAA Indoor 200m Champion and ran legs on Texas' national title winning 4x100m relay teams outdoors in 1998 and '99. The 1998 squad set a school-record time en route to dethroning LSU's six-time NCAA Champion 4x100m relay squad. Backus and the Horns finished second to LSU in the 4x100m relay in 1996 and 1997. She nearly pulled off a double-victory at the 1998 NCAA Indoor Championships when in addition to her 200m title, she was involved in a photo finish in the 60m but came up just short, finishing third. She finished second in the 60m at the 1999 NCAA Indoor Championships and also scored again in the 200m (7th) that year. Backus posted top-eight finishes in the 100m at the 1997 (8th) and 1998 (6th) NCAA Outdoor Championships and took seventh in the 200m at the 1998 NCAA Outdoor meet. Backus swept the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relays at both the 1998 and 1999 Big 12 Outdoor Championships. She won the 100m and 4x100m relay as a freshman at the final Southwest Conference Championship in 1996. A native of Long Beach, Calif., Backus graduated with a degree in Youth & Community Studies in the Spring of 2000.
