Barbados’s Kierre Beckles in Midst of Record Breaking Season

By O'Neil A. Reid “That was kinda a shocker because the school indoor track is not the best, and for me to run that time [7.55 seconds], it is great,” said Kierre Beckles, in response to breaking the school record in the 55m hurdles at the Gamecock Invitational on February 18.  Kierre, a senior at the University of South Carolina (Gamecocks) who hails from Barbados, has broken the school records in both the 55m (7.55 seconds) and 60m (8.11 seconds) in the past few weeks. Last weekend (February 25^th) at the SEC Indoor Championship in Lexington Kentucky, Kierre finished 2^nd overall in the 60m in 8.11 seconds equaling the school record set by Lashinda Demus in 2004. Commenting on her 8.11 seconds performance at the SEC championship Kierre said: “I feel pretty good about it, equaling Lashinda Demus school record. However, I was hoping to go 7.90’s in the conference but I made a mistake and it cost me the race and prevented me from running a faster time.” Speed and Power Kierre said that her training is going well and that the focus so far this season has been on speed and power.  “Last year we worked on the mechanics and techniques so not much has changed there; this year it’s all  about speed and power,”  she said. Mindset Heading into the NCAAs Heading into the NCAA next weekend (March 9-10), Kierre is working on minimizing her mistakes and outlined her tactical approach. Kierre pointed out that she has the tendency not to execute her race well in the earlier rounds but that she gets better as the rounds go on.  Her coaching staff has been working with her in practice with the aim of having stronger earlier rounds.  Her primary coach (Curtis Frye) believes that better earlier rounds will result in her improving her later rounds. As far as her mental approach, Kierre said, “I know what the environment is like; I have been to much bigger meets. My goal is to execute my race and to do what my coach [Coach Frye] asks me to do and more.” Outdoors and the Road to London Looking ahead to London, Kierre who has a personal best 13.01 seconds in the 100m hurdles, said that she will definitely be joining the sub-13 second 100m hurdles club this outdoor season.  “The sub-13 is a possibility and a must this year because last year a health issue stopped me from going sub-13; this year it is a must,” said Kierre. Kierre is confident that she will be hitting the sub-13 mark during the early part of the outdoor season and prior to the Penn’s Relay at the end of April. Kierre, who competed at the 2011 Daegu World Championship, is hoping to meet the London 2012 Olympics 100m hurdles qualifying standards (A-12.96; B-13.15) early in the outdoor season.