Special Report from Calli Townsend
Algonac native Morgan Beadlescomb broke his own personal record in the 5000m run while also setting a new school record at Michigan State University last week. With a time of 13:31.50, Beadlescomb won the indoor 5k at the Iowa State Classic on Feb. 14.
According to Beadlescomb, the race was set up to be fast, but he wasn’t expecting that fast.“ race is normally pretty competitive.” The competitor, “ came in second finished fourth at cross country nationals last year and the competitor wanted to break the facility record.” Beadlescomb said he “ didn’t know where [his] training was at” so he went into the race expecting to hang on with the guys as well as [he] could.
Breaking records is nothing new for Beadlescomb. Before graduating from Algonac High School in 2016, he became a two-time state champion in cross country, as well as a two-time state champion in the mile. He still currently boasts school records in the 1600m and 3200m runs, and the 5k in cross country.
Dan Shafer, head coach of the cross country and track programs at Algonac high school, said he knew Beadlescomb was talented from the start. “If you go back to middle school, on the first practice he came to, the middle school coach called me and told me we’ve got a special kid,” Shafer said. “By his senior year, he went to the Nike Cross Country Nationals and became a high school All-American.” Shafer said it’s Beadlescomb’s work ethic and discipline that set him apart from the rest of the competition.
“Even when he was in high school his did more than the other kids,” Shafer said. “When we’d do six miles, he’d do nine. I think thats a part of his drive to do really well. He’s done well in school too.”
Beadlescomb is now in his fourth year at Michigan State University, competing as a member of the men’s cross country and track teams. He redshirted his sophomore year, so he is currently a junior by athletic status. His first trip to an NCAA Division I National Track Meet was during the outdoor season in 2019 where he raced the 5k and finished 13th with a time of 14:17.59. This was after a breakout indoor season where he placed third in the Big Ten Championship meet in the 5k in 14:35.77. A great time, but not quite fast enough to qualify for the indoor national meet.
Since then, Beadlescomb has worked his way to the top of the Big Ten Conference. He finished third at the 2019 Big Ten Conference Championship in cross country and sixth at the Great Lakes Regional Championship, which qualified him for nationals. This past November, he finished 23rd at the NCAA Division I National Cross Country Meet, earning his first collegiate All-American title.
“I never doubted he would do well in college because he has one of the best work ethics I’ve ever seen in a kid,” Shafer said. “He was disciplined and did our summer training programs right down to the T.”
He’s carried that momentum from cross country onto the track, as he’s winning more races and breaking even more records. He’s run in three indoor meets so far this season, winning each race he ran.
Starting out in the mile on Jan. 18 at the Simmon-Harvey Invitational at the University of Michigan, he won with a time of 4:11.94. Then he returned to U of M to race at the Power 5 Invitational, but this time in the 3000m run. He won that too, finishing in 8:01.03, which was a personal best time for him in that event.
“I run what’s most competitive,” Beadlescomb said about his first couple of races of the indoor season. “The coaches all communicate about who’s going where and doing what so we can set up good races and be competitive.”
And now he has just broken a school record in the 5k on an indoor track. His time of 13:31.50 was also a meet and facility record for Iowa State.
“We, in ‘Muskrat Land,’ are really proud of him,” Shafer said. “He’s done well in school too.”
Beadlescomb has had to make several adjustments with college training and studying. He’s majoring in electrical engineering, specializing in semiconductors and sensors. “The thing with college is everybody wants a lot of your time. Classes are definitely more difficult and classes are more important because they’re more specialized and it’s what I actually want to do,” he said. “And the training is much more intense in college. I’m [at practice] for three hours a day and then I have to run on most days on my own. Everything just takes more time.”
Beadlescomb said he wants to pursue a career in the auto industry. This past summer he had an internship at Ford which he said he enjoyed. He said that as of right now, he’d rather pursue a career there rather than continue on running professionally.
“The thing is that [running] doesn’t pay that well and a lot of runners don’t really get treated very well,” Beadlescomb said. “I enjoy engineering, so it wouldn’t just be a job. It would be something I’d really enjoy. I don’t know if post-collegiate running would be something benefit me more.”
For now, Beadlescomb will continue to train, race, and strive to break more records. He will be gearing up for the Big Ten Conference Championship next on Feb. 28 and 29.
