Beattie sets sights on state and state meet records

Kayla Beattie works out at Woodstock High School before last week’s sectionals. Beattie is an overwhelming favorite to win the 3,200- and 1,600-meter runs at the IHSA Class 2A Girls Track and Field State Meet, which starts today at Eastern Illinois University. (Amanda Schwengel - aschwengel@nwherald.com)

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WOODSTOCK – At the time, Kayla Beattie and her sister Elise were just being kids.

They would tag along to the track at Woodstock’s Larry Dale Field while their parents, former NCAA Division I runners Dave and Debbie Beattie, put in their recreational runs.

“We’d run a lap or so, then we’d go play in the sandpit [for long and triple jump],” Kayla recalls.

Still, the Beatties were around running. Dave and Debbie had planted seeds, subtly, not realizing how they would later blossom.

Elise became one of the best runners in the state last season, picking up three third-place medals in state competitions, and now runs cross country and track at the University of New Hampshire.

Kayla, a senior at Woodstock, will cap her high school career today and Saturday at the IHSA Girls Track and Field State Meet at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston. She could leave EIU’s O’Brien Stadium as the fastest girls runner in Illinois history.

Class 1A preliminary heats and flights took place Thursday. Class 2A begins this morning and 3A competitors will go this afternoon.

Kayla Beattie won the past two Class 2A titles at the IHSA Girls Cross Country State Meet and won the Class 2A 3,200-meter run last year in track. She is an overwhelming favorite to win the 3,200 and 1,600.

She’s run the fastest 3,200 (10:06.15) in the nation according to dyestat.com, a track and field website, and has cracked 4:50 twice in the 1,600.

Beattie likes to keep her goal times to herself, but it’s clear she wants the state and state meet records, both held by Peoria Bergan’s Suzie Tuffey from 1984. Tuffey ran a 10:03 in a race that was not at the Class A State Meet that year, then ran 10:13.24 at the state meet, which still is the meet record.

Her parents both ran at Bowling Green, but she says the pressure never has been on the Beattie children – Elise, Kayla, freshman Maura and seventh graders Luke and Grace – to excel at running. They sort of gained their love of the sport through osmosis.

“My parents never put a lot of pressure on us,” said Kayla, who will run at Iowa next year. “We didn’t run with any track clubs. I ran a few road races in middle school.”

In fact, the Beattie girls didn’t really start serious training until high school.

“When Debbie and I were younger and more fit, and had time to do it, we ran a lot,” Dave said. “I can’t pin any particular point where the girls really said they wanted to do this, but it’s been a great road ever since.”

Dave and Debbie started running and pushing the girls in a Burley stroller, designed for runners with small children. Later, they followed their parents on bicycles. Then, Kayla said she would bike and Elise would run with their parents for a while, then they would switch.

The younger children are accomplished runners as well. Maura would have been favored to finish second in both of the distance races behind her sister, but she suffered dehydration during a practice run last week and missed the Belvidere North Sectional Meet to qualify with Kayla.

It might come as a surprise, but Dave Beattie says running is not always the foremost subject in their home.

“We believe we found a nice way to keep running at low intensity, and that’s good,” he said. “We have enough topics to talk about with five kids. It’s a common interest, but it doesn’t consume our conversations.”

Woodstock coach Steve Erwin admires the family for being able to keep running so enjoyable while still being so good at it.

“They’re different than some, but they’re still very focused,” Erwin said of the Beattie girls. “There was no pressure from Debbie and Dave, but running is a big part of [the girls’] makeup.”

Erwin has seen the Beatties’ workouts evolve through high school and credits Blue Streaks boys coach Matt McCulley, who is young and still an avid runner, with helping them reach their highest performing level. McCulley often trains with Kayla and designs her workouts.

Kayla Beattie will run in the Class 2A 1,600 preliminaries today. She likely will break the five-minute mark without much trouble, run her cooldown and come back for Saturday’s finals and a date with history.

Beattie has maintained a remarkable level this season, going a little faster each week and setting records in almost every big meet she ran.

“It’s just intrinsic,” she said. “I have a lot of internal motivation.”