SAINT PETER, Minn. – Becki Staley was one of the most prominent female distance runners in the country in the ’90s, so prominent in fact, that there is a sculpture of her at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. Staley is now in her second year at Gustavus working with the men’s and women’s cross country teams as an assistant coach but not many know of her accolades prior to Gustavus.
Staley is originally from Dickinson, N.D. where she was a standout track and field, and cross country athlete. In her high school career, Staley was a 20-time state champion and a few of her times still stand as state records today. She was also a six time AAU National Champion in track and field as well as a Junior National Champion in 1993. Staley really made a name for herself in the college ranks as she ran at both Alabama and Florida, who are both members of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). In her four years combined at the schools, she was a 13-time All-American.
When she was in high school she built a really good relationship with her coach, Jerry Schwartz.
“Yes, I did,” Schwartz responded when asked if he thought Staley would have an incredible running career beyond high school. “I remember when she was a ninth grader, her and I went running north of town and she ran a time faster than anyone ever had in Dickinson. Then in high school, she was at the state championships and she ran a time of 4:44:44 in the mile, and that broke the previous record by over 10 seconds, and I remember thinking about how outstanding it was to break the previous record by that much time. Another thing she did that stood out to me was that her success fostered a whole new wave of female distance runners in North Dakota. We saw more girls who wanted to run the longer distances and they realized they excelled at them.”
Staley looks to her previous successes to help guide the Gustie cross country teams to new heights as an assistant coach.