Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Bostian Selected As Athlete Of The Year
BOSTIAN SELECTED AS PRAIRIE GROVE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
PRAIRIE GROVE — Bekah Bostian accomplished success at a level unprecedented in the history of Prairie Grove track and field, winning four state championships in the 3200 meters in as many tries.
Those accomplishments combined with her personal humility made her the clear-cut choice to be selected as Female Athlete of the Year for school year 2018-19 at Prairie Grove by the Enterprise-Leader.
Her classmate, Drew Cates, who along with Bekah Bostian, graduated in May, sees her daily routine as exemplary. He took notice of Bekah’s devotion to training while going to baseball practice.
“She definitely exceeds in the classroom and on the field,” Cates said. “Just watching her in class, she knows all the answers, gets every question right. She works hard. She has her homework in on time all the time and even when I pull up to practice sometimes I’ll see her outside running and that just shows that she is dedicated to what she does.”
On May 31, Bekah Bostian was awarded the Kathy S. Tadlock Scholarship for track and field/ cross country participation, academics, leadership and service in school and community at the Arkansas Track & Field Hall of Fame banquet.
This past school year Bekah Bostian and another classmate, Megan Thompson, became the first two girls from Prairie Grove to
get college scholarships for track and field.
On Jan. 25, Bekah Bostian signed a national letter of intent to run cross country/ track and field and continue her education at the University of Central Arkansas. On March 10, Thompson signed to run track and field as well as cross country with University of Arkansas at Fort Smith. Each plans to major in Physical Therapy.
Both girls have an intangible factor that can’t be coached, natural speed.
“A little bit, yeah,” Bekah’s father, Keith Bostian laughs. “They gave us something to work with.”
“Both of them ever since I’ve known them, they’ve been relatively fast,” said Keith Bostian, who serves as Prairie Grove volunteer assistant track and field coach. “It’s not a like a runner’s going to take a lot of time off their (personal best). They’re not going to get incredibly faster all at once. So, they’ve been running together and competing since junior high and they’ve just progressively got better and faster.”
Keith Bostian says one of the advantages to the addition of Coach Dana Froud to the track and field program is getting someone with a sense of fashion.
“She picks maybe better apparel. She has better fashion sense than the guy coaches.”
Coach Froud intuitively has insight into the type of competitive apparel female athletes want to wear while representing the school.
Keith Bostian admits, as a guy coach, he’s glad to have a female coach that can handle some of the stuff the guys prefer not to deal with, and with Bekah on the team having more sporty uniforms just made sense.
“Of course, she’s my daughter. I feel like they’re all my daughters and they’re all my sons. There’s a lot of really cool relationships with a lot of these kids. It’s a lot of fun,” Keith Bostian said.
As a senior Bekah Bostian won her fourth 3200 meter championship and set a new state record by winning the 1600.
In past years, Bekah Bostian did not run the 1600 at state. This year, she qualified in both races and the 4x800 relay, then faced a decision in which events to compete in at state.
“I wasn’t completely sure what I wanted to run because I did run the 4x800 last year and the 3200, but I kind of wanted to improve my mile time (1600),” Bekah Bostian said.
She talked to UCA track and field coach Richard Martin, who wanted her to run the distance races at Batesville’s Pioneer Stadium during the State 4A track and field meet on April 30.
Bekah Bostian opted out of the 4x800 relay, yet the Lady Tiger team of Larisha Crawford, Alyssa LeDuc, Thompson, and Kaylee Elder, placed eighth with a time of 10:58.23.
Bekah Bostian placed first in the 1,600 blazing a time of 5:29.06 to earn the event’s record. Ruthy Ryan, of Harrison, placed second in 5:33.78. Kaylei Gober, of Valley View, came in third with a time of 5:35.73.
In her signature race, the 3200 meter, Bekah Bostian again set the pace at 11:51.42 beating Ryan, second in 12:13.59, and third place Kaylei Gober, of Valley View, in 12:14.68.
In her typical low-key fashion Bekah Bostian emphasized team over personal accomplishments, saying, “I’m really proud of our team, especially for being in four events we did really well.”