‘I couldn’t have imagined this’ says Red Knights silver medalist Xavier Beatty

By Julie Pelchar Cohen — MikeDragoSports.com senior correspondent

SHIPPENSBURG — In a few short months Xavier Beatty has launched himself into the springtime skies like few others in county history.

He has soared far across long jump pits carrying his hopes and dreams and those of a community.

Beatty, the newest long jumping sensation in Berks County, District 3 and now Pennsylvania after this weekend’s PIAA Track and Field Championships, is jumping for the entire Reading School District, a philosophy he has carried to the track from the football field and basketball court.

Beatty couldn’t have represented the Red Knights any better Saturday.

After barely surviving the Class 3A prelims, the junior unleashed a big jump in the finals, a 23-1 ½ that put a silver medal around his neck and a Red Knight high on the state medal stand for the first time since triple jumper Imani Brown claimed state glory more than a decade ago.

“Our school doesn’t have that good of a reputation,” Beatty said. “So I wanted to come out here and put us on the map. I wanted to show that Reading is here. We can do this.”

The Reading community heard Beatty loud and clear after he won the gold medal during last weekend’s District 3 championships. Teammates and coaches from Beatty’s football, basketball and track teams were waiting when he returned home from Shippensburg last Saturday.

“I didn’t see it coming,” he said. “When we came in on the bus, I was wondering what all these people were doing. Then we walked off and they started clapping for me. It was nice. I liked it.”

Brown was in attendance. Beatty had broken his school long jump record that day with his district gold leap of 23-9.

Brown was Reading High’s triple jump star. He won state gold as a junior and silver as a senior in 2012. He holds the school record of 50-0 ½.

“I heard about the record as soon as he broke it,” said Brown, who watched Beatty win the county-championship Firing Meet. “I got a few texts from some people there. They sent me a picture of him with his medal.

“When I heard that a group of people would be greeting him, I wanted to go and show my respect for him. People asked me if I was sad about my record being broken. Not at all. I was happy for him. I love to see that. I love the sport.”

Brown followed Beatty’s progress online Saturday.

Beatty was nervous early in the competition. It showed. He entered the championship as the second seed but was mired in 13th place heading into his final preliminary jump. He nearly made an early exit from Seth Grove Stadium.

“Starting off, I wasn’t on my game,” Beatty said. “I think I was in my head a little bit.”

A mark of 22-1 ¾ edged him into the finals as the ninth and last qualifier.

“I knew at that time being in last place,” he said, “I had to go do something. I prayed on it. I did a lot of stretching. I got a good warmup and I showed up.”

Beatty responded by grabbing the lead with what proved to be the silver medal winning jump on his second attempt in finals.

Emmaus senior Kyle Moore vaulted ahead with a golden 23-6 ¾ on his next attempt.

A sprinter as a sophomore, Beatty was a newcomer to the long jump pit this spring.

“Starting the season not knowing what I was doing, to get second at states?” Beatty said. “I couldn’t have imagined this.”

For a young athlete who said he’s jumping for a community, the sky’s the limit for this Red Knight. 

“He’s raw,” Brown said. “He’s athletic. He has the ability. He’s still so fresh into jumping. He has a lot of potential with his height and his build. I see him going a lot further.”