PICKERINGTON — Beallsville has a rich athletic history for both girls and boys.

Whether it’s volleyball, basketball, softball for the girls or football, basketball, wrestling for the boys, the Blue Devils have tasted their fair share of success.

Well, it’s time that track and field is added to the list of accomplishments.

The Lady Blue Devils are enjoying their finest girls’ track and field season of all time and many folks in Monroe County don’t even know about it let alone the rest of the Ohio Valley.

If you go to Beallsville and look for a track, good luck finding one. That’s the first battle small schools fight in a sport where good facilities are more than half the battle.

Former Monroe Central athletic standout Jeremy Beardmore and his wife Erica are making do with what they have facility wise because what they do have is a strong core of athletes on the female side.

It’s a group of athletes that’s shined all throughout the school year no matter the season and no matter the sport. Remember, the Lady Blue Devils’ volleyball team won the OVAC and the hoop team lost to St. John in the OVAC Hoop Tourney final.

“We’ve got a great group of girls who are good at everything they do,” Beardmore said. “We’ve got some girls out for the team who’ve never run before and

Now, that the Class of 2008 has accepted its diplomas this group of athletes has enjoyed a crowning moment.

The foursome of Torri Jarrett, Brandy Contos, Alexis Kanzigg and Savannah Burke are going somewhere next week that no Lady Blue Devil athlete has ever gone.

For Burke, it will be a senior trip, she probably won’t ever forget. For the other three underclassmen, it will be an experience from which to build and talk about for a lifetime.

Yes, the Lady Blue Devils are headed to the Ohio State Track Meet. And they will be there doing more than spectating.

“I was talking to our principal (Wednesday) and he seemed to think some guys might have gone (to the state) in the 70s, but he wasn’t even sure about that,” said Jeremy Beardmore moments after watching Burke cross the finish line in fourth place. “This is unbelievable and we got an unbelievable effort from all four girls and their hardwork paid off for them and they deserve it.“

The Beallsville 4×800 team came into the meet here at North High School as the third-best team after district times were submitted. However, Beardmore and each girl knew it was going to take more than a 10:20 to get the Lady Devils to the promised land of Ohio track and field.

“I told the girls where we were seeded, but 10:20 isn’t going to cut it,” Beardmore explained. “I told them we’d probably have to take at least 15 seconds off to even have a shot. They all ran better times.“

Actually, it only took a subtraction of 13 seconds to advance and according to Beardmore all four girls ran personal best legs en route to a 10:07.76, which was good enough for fourth, sending Beallsville into next Friday morning’s running of the distance relay at The Ohio State University.

Jarrett did her job as the lead-off leg, setting up the race. She seemed to run at a pace, which was extremely comfortable for her and she kept her three teammates right in the thick of the chase, which is all you ask a lead-off runner to do.

She handed the baton to Brandy Contos who held the Lady Blue Devils in the middle of the pack as you could see the battle for the fourth spot developing. Columbus School for Girls, St. John and Waterford had established themselves as the top three, but the race for fourth as intense.

Contos handed the baton to Alexis Kanzigg who picked off several runners as she circled the track twice, handing the aforementioned Burke the baton in sixth place. Some 510 meters into her leg, Burke charged past then fourth-pace team Galion Northmor and pulled away and sealed the deal.

“I am really happy for Savannah,” Beardmore admitted. “She’s been our hardest worker the past four years. She worked hard this week, and she ran a 2:23, which is definitely her best time. This was a total team effort. Alexis did exactly what we needed her to do and that’s keep us close to give Savannah a shot.“

Burke — who is headed to Mt. Union to play hoops next season — was winded for quite sometime after her personal-best leg and immediately had to head back to the high jump.

“It’s an amazing feeling,” Burke said. “I knew I had do something on the last lap to make it happen, but the other three girls got me in position. I kept my eyes on the girl in fourth the entire time and I made a move at the 300-meter mark. I asked the Lord for help and he did it for me, and I brought it home.“

During the course of the trip here, Burke and Kanzigg were talking about times and Burke clued her sophomore teammate into what it was probably going to take to get the Lady Devils out.

“Alexis has done a great job all year on the third leg,” Burke pointed out. “She usually runs a 2:35 and she told me she was shooting for a 2:34, but I told her one second wasn’t going to make that much of a difference, you’re going to have to go for something higher. She stepped it up and ran a 2:32.“

Beardmore is tickled for the group he’s taking next weekend and he’s also excited about the future of Lady Blue Devil track.

“I think this is going to help us get girls out for the program,” Beardmore noted. “Some of the other girls are going to see this success and encourage others to come out for the team.”

The Lady Blue Devils will be involved in the first event of the weekend next week and it will be an up-hill battle, but something tells me this group of girls won’t go down without a serious fight.

And that seems to be the mentality of Beallsville athletics. Never go down without a fight.

Staskey can be reached at sstaskey@timesleaderonline.com