Illinois State’s Beattie opens final outdoor season strong
NORMAL, Ill. (BVM) — Grace Beattie has been a track star for quite some time, and her career just seems to keep getting better and better. At Woodstock High School, Beattie was a four-time letter winner in both track and field and cross country.
The two-time team captain also made it to state three times, and broke the school record in the 800m run.
Beattie’s success has not stopped since she came to Illinois State in 2016. In her first indoor collegiate season, the track star won an 800m run. In the outdoor season that same year, she won a 3,000m steeplechase.
As a sophomore in 2017-18, Beattie earned all-conference honors in both the indoor and outdoor Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) championships. During her junior year, she would take things to a new level by winning the MVC championship in the steeplechase.
What was expected to be Beattie’s final season began well, as she won the MVC indoor championship in the 5,000m in the fall of 2019. However, the pandemic would end up taking away her 2020 outdoor season.
Returning for another year, her fall indoor season was also canceled. But Beattie is back this spring for her final outdoor season, and is already making plenty of noise.
At the recent Redbird Invite 5K, Beattie won by over a minute. More impressively, she set a 29-second personal-best mark of 16:06.28. Not only was the run special for Beattie, but it was also historic for the Illinois State program.
Beattie’s run was the second fastest in program history, and just missed setting the top record by hundredths of a second. Beattie also broke the Redbird Outdoor Track & Field Complex facility record by 40 seconds.
Her incredible time not only sits in second for a 5K in Illinois State history, but also No. 14 in the NCAA West Region and No. 24 in the entire NCAA.
For her efforts, Beattie was honored with the MVC Track Athlete of the Week award.
Grace Beattie picks up her fifth career MVC Track Athlete of the Week honor after a huge performance at the Redbird Invite!
Facility Record✅
Fastest 5K time in the Valley✅
#2 5K time in ISU history✅
#14 in the West Region✅
#24 in the nation✅📖 https://t.co/94etaKoITA pic.twitter.com/WTTaNvaFTA
— Illinois State Track & Field/XC (@RedbirdTFXC) April 7, 2021
The honor was the fifth weekly conference award Beattie has earned in her incredible track career. With the season just starting and Beattie off to such a fast start, it would not be surprising to see her rack up a few more honors, and records, as she concludes her college career.
