In comparison to well-documented inspirational moments in Texas A&M's athletic history, few people even know about May 17, 1947. And only a handful of Aggies were among the 3,000 fans in Waco that day to witness it.

For those who actually saw it, however, the remarkably courageous effort of one A&M freshman distance runner is permanently etched in the mind's eye and frozen in the goose bumps of time.

"It was the most inspiring sports moment of my 73 years (of life)," said Bob "Sack" Spoede, an A&M student and sports reporter for the campus newspaper in the late '40s. "When I left Waco that day, I knew I had seen something I would never forget. It was truly a remarkable act of courage and perseverance."

Actually, it was primarily an act of single-mindedness, says Jerry Bonnen, the man responsible for producing the memorable moment on the cinder and dirt track.

"I'm honored that people would still think so highly of something I did so many years ago," Bonnen said recently from his home in Pompano Beach, Fla. "But really, I wasn't thinking about courage or inspiration or anything like that. I was just thinking about crossing the finish line so I could get off the track and rest."

That's what Bonnen did. But the heroic manner in which he made it down the final stretch and across the finish line won the hearts of all fans in attendance and earned him a place in Aggie history.

"I never thought people would still remember it," Bonnen said. "I was just a freshman doing my part for the team."

With only a handful of events left in the 1947 SWC championships, Texas led in the overall team standings by three points over second-place A&M. Only the close margin that separated the two top teams came as a surprise to those in attendance. Over the previous 15 years, after all, the Longhorns had claimed 12 SWC team titles.

During that same span, the Aggies had just one team championship.

The optimistic Aggies, however, believed they had a solid shot of catching the Horns on this particular afternoon, since some of A&M's strongest events were yet to come.

Of course, the next event - the two-mile run - was not one of those strong A&M events. Texas, led by distance sensation Jerry Thompson, was expected to pad its overall team lead.

Technically speaking, that's exactly what the Horns did. Thompson won the race, collecting five points, while two of his Texas teammates finished second and third to add another five points to UT's total (three points for second, two for third).

For much of the race, it even looked as if Texas might make a clean sweep, as a UT runner was in fourth place and seemed to be in position to collect the final point awarded for the race.

But late in the eight-lap race, Bonnen - all 125 pounds of him - began a spirited push that put him in fourth place as he came around the final curve.

"During the race, my teammates were standing on every curve of the track cheering me on," Bonnen recalled. "That kept me pumped up. But when I came around the last curve I was exhausted. I bumped my toe on the curb and ended up falling onto the field. When I got up, I was cramping and could barely breathe. I was already out of it, but that made it even worse."

An observer on the infield even offered Bonnen a hand, expecting the 5-foot-7 Aggie to drop out of the race. But that was the last thing on Bonnen's mind.

The Texas runner Bonnen had passed to move into fourth place had dropped out of the race, but an Arkansas runner was moving up quickly as the suddenly stiff-legged Bonnen staggered and stumbled down the straightaway.

Just a yard from the finish line, Bonnen's legs gave way and he collapsed to track. With the crowd now solidly behind the gritty Aggie and the Arkansas runner closing quickly, Bonnen crawled across the line for fourth place and one point for A&M.

"You just can't coach a boy to have what Bonnen has," legendary A&M track coach Col. Frank "Andy" Anderson said on the day of the meet. "It was a great performance by a great boy."

"I can remember the chills," said Spoede, who still lives in College Station. "It was a moving experience."

Bonnen's A&M teammates were moved to cheers and inspired to greatness. In the closing events of the meet, the Aggies slipped past the Horns to win the meet by four points.

"In hindsight, Bonnen's point wasn't the difference in the final standings," Spoede said. "But there wasn't a doubt in anybody's mind that he provided the inspiration to win it. After those boys saw what he did, there was no way they were going to lose."

The '47 championship was the beginning of the most glorious run in Texas A&M track history. Beginning that year, the Aggies won six of the next seven league titles and finished either first or second in the SWC 11 straight years.

And Bonnen was a key component of the beginning of that victorious run, placing in every SWC meet during his four years at A&M. But without a doubt, the most memorable meet was '47 when Bonnen willed himself across the finish line and propelled his team to the title.

"It was very inspiring for me to see my teammates pass Texas and win the meet," Bonnen said. "It was a great moment. We had some great guys on that team. I remember seeing the Texas coach in the stands after the meet just sitting there, and he couldn't believe they had lost.

"We had a number of veterans on that team who came back from World War II like Ray Holbrook and (E.G.) Bilderback, and George Kadera was great in the shot put and discus. But for the most part, we just had a lot guys with a lot of heart. Col. Andy would watch guys in P.E., and if they looked like they could run, he would talk them into coming out for track. We just had a bunch of ordinary students."

Running for the Aggies fulfilled a childhood dream for Bonnen, who grew up in College Station and actually began training with the A&M track team as a 15-year-old.

"There were only about 150 students at A&M Consolidated High School when I was a freshman (in high school), and we had about seven or eight guys on the track team," Bonnen said. "We didn't have a track at the high school, so we worked out at the A&M track. When I was a sophomore, I would be out there running around the track, not really knowing what I was doing.

"Col. Andy asked me if I would like to work out with Texas A&M. I was thrilled. Ray Putnam was the A&M distance coach, and he started working with me and helped me with my stride and arm movement. I was competing with the Texas A&M track teams guys all during the week, and I went down to Houston for a statewide track meet, and I won the mile. From then on, I was one of the Aggies."

Following his graduation from A&M, Bonnen was hired by Westinghouse Elevator in Dallas in 1951 and worked for the company in various roles - and numerous cities - until he took early retirement in 1988. His last position with Westinghouse was as a branch manager in Miami.

Bonnen, who has eight children and six grandchildren, didn't stay retired long. A large consulting firm in Florida convinced him to come out of retirement and he now owns his own company, J. Bonnen Elevator Consultants, Inc.

"I've had a very enjoyable and what I think has been a very rewarding career," Bonnen said. "And I think I owe a lot of my perseverance and never quit attitude to my time at A&M. I'd say it definitely carried over into my business career. It was a great experience for me to be on the team with a bunch of great guys. I still have a lot of great memories of those times. I'll never forget them."

Nor will anyone who witnessed Jerry Bonnen's glorious run ever forget him.