Travel
On January 8th, I traveled back to the University of Illinois to officially open my professional high jump career. The trip itself was a journey of nine hours each way with my dad, Jeff Beard, serving as both my driver and my coach. There’s something special about long road trips like that: time to reflect, talk, pray, and prepare.
I was set to compete on January 10th, and the night before the meet I found out something unexpected, I would be the only high jumper in the competition. At first, that information was intimidating. It would’ve been easy to let fear creep in or even decide not to compete. But instead of letting that fear control me, I made the decision to show up anyway. I trusted that I was there for a reason.
Meet Day
Arriving on campus brought a wave of nostalgia. I graduated from the University of Illinois in 2024 with my master’s degree in Management Science, and walking those familiar paths again reminded me of everything I had been through.
During my collegiate career at Illinois, I struggled. I failed to clear heights I once jumped in my sleep, and it took a toll on me both mentally and emotionally. Coming back now as a stronger, wiser, and more grounded version of myself—was incredibly liberating. God truly shined His glory through the current version of me.
As I reconnected with many of my former teammates, they couldn’t help but comment on how I was “glowing” and how great I looked. If only they knew how deeply finding myself in Christ changed my life once again. The joy, peace, and confidence I felt came from something far greater than sport.
Warm Up
I began my warm-up with dynamic stretching and jogging. Overall, I felt pretty good, though I noticed I was slightly tired—most likely from the long travel. Since I was the only jumper, I was able to get my marks down quickly and then moved into sprint drills to prepare for my warm-up jumps.
During warm-ups, I felt okay physically but still a little slow and tired but more importantly, I felt calm. There was a sense of peace, and I knew I was ready to compete.
Jumping
I opened the competition at 1.73m (5’8”). I missed my first attempt due to a sloppy and inconsistent approach, but I stayed hopeful. The bar then moved up to 1.78m, which I cleared on my first attempt. Even then, my approach didn’t feel quite right, and fatigue was starting to set in, likely from being the only jumper and having just three minutes between attempts.
At 1.83m (6’0”), I missed my first attempt. I took a moment, encouraged myself, and reminded myself not to hesitate. On my second attempt, I cleared it, marking the highest season opener of my entire track career.
What made that moment special was that it came on an “off” day, when everything felt forced, sloppy, and uncomfortable. The fact that 1.83 required minimal effort is a huge sign of what’s to come. I also had really strong attempts at 1.86m, even though things still felt off.
I walked away genuinely happy with my performance and incredibly grateful. I thanked God for the opportunity to return to competition better than I was, especially after not competing for two years.
Next Up
Next up, I’ll be competing in Brussels, Belgium, my first international high jump competition. I’ll be jumping against Olympians I’ve watched and admired for years on YouTube, which still feels surreal.
Stay tuned for the meet summary, and feel free to leave comments if you have any questions, or if there’s any advice I can share for your journey.
The journey is just getting started.
