Running with the best
Jessica Beatty talks about her love for track and field
Adam Cichoski | Sports Writer
Recently a school record has been broken! That record was broken by women’s track member Jessica Beatty, set a new school record for the women’s 60m hurdles. She set the record against Air Force on Feb 6, completing the race in a blazing 8.74 seconds! While Jessica is a great athlete her track career didn’t start until her sophomore year of high school.
Originally her plans were to play basketball, but after a powderpuff football game her principle approached her with an astute observation, she was really fast! She encouraged her to try out for the track and field team. She decided to give it a shot and fell in love!
Jessica participates in lots of events truly showing her athleticism. From the 60m to the 800m, to the long jump and the shot-put, there’s not much she doesn’t do when it comes to track and field! She performed great in high school, making regionals her sophomore year. By the time her senior year came around she took 1st in all four events she competed in, in the regional round! Her favorite, and best event, however, is the hurdles. Her junior and senior years she made it to state.
Leaving high school and looking for a college to compete for, she decided that school would be UVU. “It seemed like a really awesome place! I love the track coaches, they seemed really cool when I was doing my interviews with them. It just seemed like the perfect place to go!” She said when asked why she decided UVU.
With the WAC Championship coming up soon the last weekend of February, Jessica is looking forward for an opportunity to compete! She’ll be competing in multiple events this weekend! “I’m excited! I’ll be able to compete most of the days, it’ll be fun!” She’s looking forward to tear it up during the championship!
“I want to do the best that I can! I going to go into it trying to get more PRs (Personal Records) and getting points for the team!” Jessica is a competitor who sees each meet as a chance to get better! When given praise for her accomplishments she said, “I’m getting better!” With her recent breaking of school records it shows that she truly is getting better all the time!
Jessica loves track and field so much she finds the idea of leaving it to be hard. “I’ve been doing this for eight years! A lot of our teammates come back and work with the coaches, it’s definitely not out of the question. It would be fun to leave and do other stuff, but I’ll probably come back, honestly!” Whether she decides to come back or not is still up the future. No matter what she decides to do, it’s clear that she loves Track and Field and it’s had a profound influence on her life.
Jessica is excited for the track and field season and you should too! Come out and support our great women’s track team and the amazing athletes in it, like Jessica!
My name is Adam Cichoski, I’m a junior at UVU studying Journalism. Sports is my passion, especially football. I’m originally from Las Vegas, Nevada. My plan after school is to pursue a job in sports journalism.