DAVIS, Calif. — Senior Erinn Beattie earned First and Second-Team All-America honors for her appearances at the 2019 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships as announced by the USTFCCCA on Monday.
When asked about her mindset heading into the NCAA's, Beattie said, "my goals going into the meet were to be consistent in all of my events, and place in the top-six."
Gearing for the final event of the pentathlon, the 800m run, Beattie was on track to meet her goal, as she was sitting in sixth-place overall.
"Going into the 800m, I knew I wasn't going to really lose my place in the rankings because I knew I was in good shape and ready to run, so I wasn't that nervous," said Beattie. "It was fun to go out there and finish strong and know that all I had left was to gain, and I had nothing to lose at that point."
In what turned out to be a brilliant personal-best performance in the pentathlon, not only did Beattie match her goal for the Championship, she exceeded it — breaking three indoor school records to place fourth overall and earning First-Team All-America honors.
During the pent, Beattie cleared 1.84m in the high jump, bettering her previous 1.83m indoor record, and matching her outdoor record from the 2018 season. In the long jump, Beattie finished with a 5.89m leap, bettering her own indoor record set at the 2019 MPSF Championships two weeks prior. All five events combined for a new pentathlon school record of 4,293 points.
Although there was a lot of pressure on her to continue to perform at such an elite level, Beattie was unfazed, and represented UC Davis well as its sole athlete at the NCAA Indoor Championships.
"I try not to think about the pressure as much as I can," Beattie said, "because at the end of the day I'm going to give it 110%, and if that's good enough that day, then it was good enough. If it wasn't, I can still walk away satisfied because I knew I gave it my all and there wasn't much more I could have done in those moments. I do try to think of the events as separate events and not as part of a whole; when I'm hurdling I'm a hurdler, etc. It helps reduce the pressure on each event for me a little."
Although many would be satisfied with a podium-finish, Beattie is still reflecting on the meet as a whole.
"It was a little frustrating to be 1/100th off the 60m hurdles record, but it was really rewarding to see all the work I put in during the fall and winter pay off in a tangible way on paper."
After a quick turnaround, Beattie competed in the high jump individual event final on Saturday, and placed 14th with a 1.71m mark. One other pent competitor, Aliyah Whisby (Georgia), was set to compete in the high jump as well, but she pulled out of the event prior to the competition. Qualifying and competing in the NCAA high jump final was enough to earn Beattie Second-Team All-America honors.
"I couldn't have succeeded this far without my trainers and coaches, so they deserve all the credit," finished Beattie.
Beattie will have the weekend off before entering the outdoor season in search of another NCAA Championship appearance.
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