The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Hall of Honor
- Induction:
- 2024
- Class:
- 1989
A six-time All-American and 10-time Southwest Conference individual champion who was a member of three NCAA Championship squads (1986 Indoor, 1986 Outdoor and 1988 Indoor), Karen Nelson Walters was a standout versatile sprinter, jumper and relay performer for dominant Texas teams from 1985-88. She was on Texas squads that posted six top-five team finishes at the NCAA Championship (four indoor, two outdoor), while the Longhorns also won all eight SWC titles in her four years on the Forty Acres. A member of Texas’ third-place 4x100-meter relay for the 1986 NCAA Outdoor Championship squad, Nelson Walters also tallied points with a third-place finish in the 55-meter hurdles as the Horns won the 1988 national indoor title. Her NCAA Outdoor Championships debut came at home in Austin as she ran a leg on the Longhorns’ runner-up 4x100-meter relay squad as a freshman. She finished third at the 1987 NCAA Indoor Championship in the 55-meter hurdles, was on the third-place 4x100-meter relay squad at the 1986 NCAA Outdoor Championships and took sixth in the 100-meter hurdles at the 1988 NCAA Outdoor Championships. Nelson Walters was ninth in the 100-meter hurdles at the 1987 NCAA Outdoor Championships. Four of her six All-American honors were earned with top-three finishes, including twice in individual events. She ran the anchor leg on Texas’ victorious 4x100-meter relay squad at the 1985 SWC Outdoor Championships and was an 11-time conference champion across five different events. Her league dominance earned her a spot on the Southwest Conference All-Decade Team for the 1980s. Nelson Walters swept the SWC Indoor 55-meter/60-yard hurdle and Outdoor 100-meter hurdle crowns in each of her final three seasons. She won conference indoor crowns in the long jump in 1986 and 1988 and swept the triple jump title indoors and outdoors in 1987. Named Team MVP in 1986, Nelson Walters finished her career with the top 10 times in school history as well as the SWC Meet record (13.32) in the 100-meter hurdles. She still ranks among UT’s top 10 all-time performers list in the 55-meter hurdles (7.61/1987) and long jump (21-0.75/1988) indoors as well as the long jump outdoors (20-9.5/1985). Her success extended to international competition, too, as she represented Canada in the 100-meter hurdles at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. A former Canadian senior and junior national long jump record holder and six-time senior national champion in both the hurdles and long jump in her home country, she was inducted into the Oshawa Sports Hall of Fame, her hometown in Ontario, Canada, in 2023. Prior to coming to Texas, Nelson Walters placed fourth in the 100-meter hurdles at the 1982 Commonwealth Games and was sixth in the 100-meter hurdles, eight in the long jump and a member of the third-place 4x100-meter relay at the 1983 Pan American Games. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Educational & Youth-Serving Agencies from The University of Texas in 1989.
