Beesley Sweeps Region Junior Olympic Meet: Moves onto Nationals in New Mexico

Trevor Beesley is leading South Carolina into the Young Men's 5k on Dec. 13.

Schedule of Events Saturday, December 13, 2003 10:00 a.m. Bantam Girls 3 km 10:30 Bantam Boys 3 km 11:00 Midget Girls 3 km 11:30 Midget Boys 3 km 12:00 p.m. Youth Girls 4 km 12:30 Youth Boys 4 km 1:00 Intermediate Girls 5 km 1:30 Intermediate Boys 5 km 2:00 Young Women 5 km 2:30 Young Men 5 km (source: www.usatf.org)

Trevor Beesley ran away with the Young Men individual title on Saturday, Nov. 22 in Richmond, Va. at the Region III Junior Olympics. Beesley and 14 other runners fought for the title before Beesley crossed the line first in 16:23.86. Eighteen runners (including Beesley) from South Carolina have declared to compete at Nationals in New Mexico. Beesley is a member of the Quick Striders team. During the regular season Beesley runs for Greenwood High School. Beesley will conclude his tenure at Greenwood in May 2004.

The course in Richmond, Va. took place on rolling hills in a horse pasture and a steep hill. "I was real proud of all the athletes from South Carolina," said Valerie Beesley. "They are such a great group of coaches and kids." Valerie is the mother of Trevor and the South Carolina USATF Youth Chair. As a Youth Chair Valerie will chaperone three runners to New Mexico for Nationals on Dec. 13 at Lovelace New Mexico Soccer Complex in Bernalillo, NM.

The USATF Junior Olympic cross country program starts off with preliminary meets in several of the USATF's 57 local associations. The local associations led to Association Championships and then to 16 Regional Championships, narrowing the group to the best of the best.

Valerie Beesley is hoping to win the bid for Nationals soon, bringing it back to South Carolina. The 1999 National meet took place at Milliken in Spartanburg. Milliken is the home of the Eye Opener, Spartanburg County Championships and collegiate meets throughout the season. This years' state Junior Olympic meet was held at Fort Jackson on Hilton Field on Nov. 15.

This years' national meet will consist of more then 3,000 athletes at Lovelace New Mexico Soccer Complex in Bernalillo, NM. The course consists of rolling hills and gentle turns (USATF.org).

National qualifiers from South Carolina

Bantam Girls -
Jaime Ledwell, Mount Pleasant Track Club - 19th

Midget Girls -
Alisha Royal - Florence Track Club - 2nd
Mary Katherine Hayes - Wave Runners Track Club - 16th

Intermediate Girls -
Patrice Blye - Grand Strand Striders - 7th
Virginia Dias - Florence Track Club - 14th
Vanessa Hilliard - Grand Strand Striders - 15th
Katherine Haines - Grand Strand Striders - 16th
Renee Blanco - Florence Track Club - 17th

Young Women -
Heather Koziel - Unattached - 4th

Bantam Boys -
William Rabb - Summerville Track Club - 20th

Youth Boys -
Steven Usery - Wave Runners Track Club - 2nd Robert Brown III - Mount Pleasant Mercury - 10th
Josh Fitts - Mount Pleasant Track Club - 12th

Intermediate Boys -
John Koziel - Unattached - 3rd Eric Landgraff - Grand Strand Striders - 13th
Travis Eiler - Grand Strand Striders - 16th

Young Men -
Trevor Beesley - Quick Striders Track Club - 1st Patrick McRay - Palmetto Track & Field - 5th
Tanner Trotter - Grand Strand Striders - 10th
Carsten Schmidt - Grand Strand Striders - 13th
(13 have committed). If you know of some or the exact 13 please send an e-mail to john@scrunners.com.

(note: sub bantam runners do not go onto nationals. The region meet was their nationals)

Thanks to USATF-SC Youth Chair Valerie Beesley for contributing to this article