Tunnel vision has helped Curtis Beach become the greatest decathlete in the history of high school track.
Curtis Beach, Albuquerque Academy
Photo by Gary Murray
Truth be told, track has been his girlfriend for a long time. Sure, he’s had a few dates, maybe gone to a party or two, but his dedication to track borders on the fanatical.
The recent graduate of Albuquerque Academy (N.M.) shocked the collegiate world when he signed with Duke University, somewhat of a track doormat in the past, but now on the rise.
Duke assistant coach Shawn Wilbourn told MaxPreps, “On his recruiting trip, we were doing a campus tour and he’s working (imaginarily) on his javelin technique. Other recruits and their parents are looking at him like ‘Who’s this kid?’ I can see him working on techniques in a grocery store and people looking at him like he’s crazy.”
The 6-foot, 165-pound Beach has been featured in several national publications since he set the national high school decathlon record at the prestigious Arcadia (Calif.) Invitational earlier this spring.
In fact, he not only broke the record with 7,909 points, but he smashed it. The previous standard was 7,417 by Ryan Theriault of Las Vegas, Nev., in 1993.
The decathlon, which is a regular high school event in only a few states, includes 10 events over a two-day period. The first day includes the 100-meter dash, long jump, shot put, high jump and 400-meter dash. The second-day events are the 110-meter hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin and 1500-meter run.
There is a minimum of 30 minutes between events, but it still takes a tremendous athlete to complete the two-day ordeal. Beach, arguably, could be the best athlete in the USA.
At Arcadia – as at all his other meets – Beach’s “main focus was on doing the best I could in each event and seeing what happens. The weather was perfect both days. It was overcast and I was in the shade. It wasn’t windy at all. For a decathlete it was the best it could have been. It was sweet.”
It’s no wonder he smashed the record, because he came through with an amazing six personal bests at Arcadia, winning every event except the discus, in which he placed second.
After winning the final event, the 1500, Beach said he “looked at my coach, Adam Kedge. I gave him a big hug and we hugged for a long time. It was just an incredible moment. There would be no stopping now.”
He did an immediate interview with a track website, even though he still “was breathing hard.” He signed the backs of many fans’ shirts. Finally, he did something of which he always had dreamed – he had his picture taken next to the scoreboard which trumpeted his new national record.
Frank Soto, who is one of six coaches – most of them outside of Albuquerque Academy - working individually with Beach in different events, told MaxPreps, “In my opinion, God gave him perfect physical and mental toughness to be one of the world’s greatest athletes. I’ve seen him practice soaking wet and shivering, in 100-degree and 20-degree weather, at six in the morning. He’s never put himself in a box – never said, ‘I can’t do this.’ ’’
Beach after record-setting performance at Arcadia Invitational.
Photo by John Moore
Coach Soto’s comments are backed up by Beach’s incredible career bests, which are: 100-meter dash, 10.99 seconds; 200-meter dash, 21.82 seconds; 400-meter dash, 47.99 seconds; 800-meter run, 1:52.72; 1500-meter run, 4:09.48; 110-meter hurdles, 14:14 seconds; 300-meter hurdles, 37.99 seconds; long jump, 23-10 ¼; high jump, 6-9 ½; shot put, 44-11; pole vault, 15-6; discus, 135-11; and javelin, 155-9.
Albuquerque Journal sports writer Will Webber told MaxPreps, “He’s the best high school track athlete the state ever has had. He holds five state records and was high-point guy at the state a record four times. His focus is unmatched by anybody. He’s not a normal teenager. The only thing he thinks about is track. He has three or four percent body fat, but it’s got to all be in his cheeks,” he laughed.
There seems to be no doubt that Curtis Beach was created to be a track man, even though he developed asthma at eight months of age and still takes four medications daily (a fifth on days he has a meet or practice) to keep it under control.
“As a little kid, I was very, very hyper,” he admitted. “My parents couldn’t take me to many restaurants, because I would leave the table. Running must have done a lot to calm me down because then I’d be sleepy and tired.”
When he was six he used to chase his grandmother’s horse, Lobo, in her pasture. Beach recalled, “He’d let me get close, then he’d take off. I’d be out there for an hour and a half. I’d have a blast.”
That same year he started playing soccer. For discipline the soccer coach would make his players run laps around the field. “I purposely got in trouble,” Beach related, “because I liked the punishment. I asked to run the whole complex. After that he made me do pushups.”
At age seven, Beach signed up for track, realizing for the first time, “Omigosh, it’s a sport!” It blew his mind and he literally was off to the races.
When he was nine – following a strong asthma attack – Beach was told by a doctor that he should switch from track to another sport.
“After we left I told my mom (Jeana, a nurse),’I’m never going to that doctor again.’ I went to another doctor and he said if he couldn’t fix it (his problem) he wasn’t doing his job.
“Cross country was my sport then. I have exercise-induced asthma. In the early fall with cross country, it’s hard because I’m not really in shape. There’s a lot of pollen in the air and my allergies really fire up the asthma.”
Interestingly, his most challenging problem stemming from asthma has been passing drug tests to compete in most national and all international meets. There always are questions created by his many medicines. He calls it a “tedious process to get a therapeutic exemption.”
At age 10, the youngster with boundless energy gave himself a birthday present – he ran his first 10K, averaging an excellent 7:10 per mile. That same year he made his mark on the national stage for the first time by placing third in a field of over 200 runners during the national cross country meet in Reno, Nev.
A major turning point in Beach’s career presented itself when he reached middle school. Jim Ciccarello, who is the head girls track coach at Albuquerque La Cueva, “challenged me to do more than distance – to be a multi-event performer. I tried the hurdles and high jump and it made everything a lot more fun.”
Thus, Beach became a pentathlon specialist, doing five events (100-meter hurdles, shot put, high jump, long jump and 1500-meter run). That event morphed into the decathlon when he reached ninth grade.
“We couldn’t hold him down,” Albuquerque Academy coach Adam Kedge pointed out. “He wanted to do everything and worked endlessly. His progress in the hurdles and jumping events went quickly. The throwing events and pole vault lagged behind.
“The unique thing is that he had the passion at an early age for multi-events. He’s done more research and studies track and field more than I do. I have to work hard to keep up with him.”
As a freshman, the young phenom won Class 4A state titles in the 110- and 300-meter hurdles as well as the long jump. He was third in the high jump.
During his sophomore year he dominated with five states titles – the 110- and 300-meter hurdles, long jump, 200- and 400-meter dashes. He also won the pentathlon with a national sophomore record of 3,785 points during the National Scholastic Indoor Championships in New York City.
That summer he captured the decathlon during the Great Southwest Classic in his hometown with a personal-best 7,185 points. He later placed fourth in the Octathlon with 6,170 points during the World Youth Championships in the Czech Republic.
As a junior, Beach repeated as pentathlon champion during the National Scholastic Indoor Championships in New York City. This time, however, there was a little twist because he tied best friend Daniel Gooris (Albuquerque Cibola) with 3,866 points. He got the gold, though, because he won three of the five events when they had gone head-to-head.
He again won the 110- and 300-meter hurdles, the long jump and high jump at the state meet. But he finished second to a sophomore in the 200 and that loss was a great motivator for the next year.
The following summer, he set another personal best while winning the Great Southwest title with 7,262 points. He later placed third at the Junior Nationals in Columbus, Ohio.
The Junior Olympics Nationals in Omaha, Neb., really displayed Beach’s mental, as well as physical, powers, because he sprained his ankle while warming up. Still, he finished third with over 6,300 points, calling it “one of the most exhilarating experiences of my life.”
Curtis Beach apparently never met a challenge he didn’t embrace.
As a senior Beach won his third consecutive pentathlon with 4,127 points (No. 2 in meet history) during the National Scholastic Indoor Championships in New York City.
Is he a brute for punishment, or does he just love track more than any other teenager in the world? Draw your own conclusions, because after he won his own event, he asked to enter the 800-meter run “just for fun.” All he did was clock 1:52.72 – his best-ever time and the fourth fastest in the nation this past winter.
This spring he climaxed his incredible prep career by winning state titles in the 100-meter hurdles, the 200- and 400-meter dashes, pole vault and high jump. The Chargers also captured the Class 4A state team title. That gave him an amazing 17 individual state championships during his career.
In the 200, Beach defeated defending champion Josh Newsome of Farmington. “He definitely made me work harder,” Beach stressed. “I give full credit to him (for beating me last year), but I learned a lot that made losing worth it.”
“It’s one thing to get on top, but it’s a completely different task to stay on top. In order to remain there, you have to be consistently great. You can’t get complacent.”
Over the years Beach’s intensity has spilled over into such things as diet, and even shoes. To be the best, he realized he had to leave no stones unturned.
He’ll never forget finishing seventh at the Junior Olympics Nationals in Indianapolis, Ind., the summer before his freshman year. “I was standing on the podium and all those other guys were above me,” he recalled. “I said, ‘No more of this! I’ve got to be on top!’ I really took it to the next level.”
He even scolds his parents about their diets. He avoids soft drinks like the plague. His only “vice” is drinking a root beer float to celebrate the end of each track season.
His shoes are something else. He has seven different types and wears them out every year. He regularly wears spikes for sprinting; long jump and pole vault; shot put and discus; high jump; javelin; distance running; and he also has training shoes.
“All of my life I’ve walked on my toes,” he revealed. “I also run on my toes. With that pressure on my shoes, they wear out pretty fast.”
He once had problems with Achilles injuries until a doctor sent him to a shoe specialist who gave him insoles. Problem solved!
Beach is a bright young man with a 3.68 GPA. He also is quite active as a volunteer coach for the Albuquerque Track Club. In addition, he has helped to coach the Whittier Elementary School jump rope class, which has performed before up to 18,000 people at halftime of a University of New Mexico basketball game.
“It’s so cool seeing that many people scream for you,” Beach says enthusiastically.
He has a surprising idol – Tiger Woods – because he doesn’t even play golf. It’s his own never-ending search for perfection that draws him to dominating superstars like Woods. He calls Woods “an island of perfection.”
Before he heads to Duke in August, Beach has several major summer meets during which he could erase his own decathlon record. This Thursday and Friday he again will be favored at the Great Southwest Classic in Albuquerque.
The Junior Nationals in Eugene, Ore. (June 25-28) are huge because that is a qualifier for the Pan American Junior Championships, which will be held in Trinidad from July 31-Aug. 2.
As he seeks more records, the 18-year-old New Mexico star will continue to work hardest on the javelin, which “historically has been the toughest, because it’s one of the events that I’m not naturally capable of doing well in. I’m a natural runner and jumper.”
On the flip side, the decathlon’s final event – the 1500 – is his best. He points out, “Many decathletes start out as 100 and 200 runners – a lot of short stuff. I started out in cross country. I learned how to push myself when I was tired. A lot of people come out way too fast (and fade badly).”
Coach Wilbourn calls Beach the “marquee recruit” in Duke’s incoming class. “I was able to build relationships and I think we clicked. He was able to put ego aside and make the best decision for him. He has physical gifts, but the thing that sets him apart is his mental toughness.”
Wilbourn revealed that he will nurse his incoming star along slowly as he gets accustomed to heavier weights in the discus and shot put as well as the higher hurdles.
Beach is extremely happy with his choice of Duke over many more successful college track programs, even though he admits, “A lot of people see Duke as this intramural club. This year they were in the middle of the ACC. They have the facilities and the athletic support is there. They have outstanding coaches and it boggles my mind how they got them. They have everything in place to have a successful program.”
Despite his youth, Beach should not be counted out of the 2012 London Olympics. “Anything is possible,” Coach Wilbourn concedes. “I know that mentally he’s there. It depends on how well he progresses with the college implements and hurdles.”
Beach admits, “It will be very difficult to make that team. I won’t be the favorite, but I definitely have a chance and I’m going to go for it.”
Looking even farther down the road, the determined teenager has an even bigger goal: he wants to be the CEO of USA Track & Field.
He explained, “I want to help the sport. It should be as popular as football and basketball. I believe it’s been mismanaged. I really feel I need to change some things. Being CEO would give me a chance to really change things.
“Doug Logan is the current CEO and he’s doing so much to improve. He’s doing what I want to do. Hopefully, I’ll get there and take it to the next level. He wants me to spend a day with him (in late June) and see what he does. It’s going to be awesome.”
Editor’s Note; Be careful, Curtis, because Logan may lock you in his closet and keep you there until he retires. After all, good jobs are mighty scarce.
