Hall of Fame
Bryan Beegle is a national champion and an All-American distance runner who became the first men’s track & field athlete in school history to become both a multiple All-American and multiple Academic All-American.
Beegle was a 16-time PSAC place-winner, an 11-time All-PSAC finisher and a six-time PSAC Champion in track & field who also set the all-time PSAC indoor record in the mile and the distance medley relay.
Beegle was the linchpin to SU’s dominant resurgence in Track & Field/Cross Country; in cross country, the Raiders won the school’s first-ever NCAA Atlantic Region Championship in his junior season (2009) and its first-ever PSAC Championship in his senior season (2010). In track & field, SU posted its best-ever finish at the NCAA Indoor Championships in his junior season (2011) and won three PSAC Indoor Track & Field Championships (2009, 2011, 2012) and three PSAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships (2010, 2011, 2012).
As a freshman in 2007-08, Beegle burst onto the scene by winning the 2008 PSAC Outdoor Championship in the 3,000-meter steeplechase and placing fourth in the 5K. He earned All-PSAC honors in cross country with a 24th-place finish at the conference championships.
In his sophomore season in 2008-09, Beegle began in cross country with a sixth-place finish at PSAC Championships and an eighth-place finish at the NCAA Atlantic Region Championships, marking his first of three straight All-Region finishes in cross country. He earned a share of the 2009 PSAC Indoor T&F Championships Most Valuable Track Athlete award (with ESU’s Chris Reddick) after winning the mile and the distance medley relay and placing second in the 3K.
Beegle’s third season, 2009-10, featured a third-place finish at the NCAA Atlantic Region Cross Country Championships that propelled SU to its first regional title and a berth in the NCAA National Championships. Indoors, Beegle placed fourth in the 3K and sixth in the 5K. Outdoors, Beegle won the PSAC championship in the 5K and placed second in the steeplechase.
The 2010-11 campaign, Beegle’s last as an undergraduate, was a historic one. In cross country, Beegle finished side-by-side with Stephen Schelander, Matt Gillette and Josh Neyhart in second through fifth place to key the first PSAC title in school history. SU ran second at regionals and seventh at the NCAA National Championships – the third-best national finish in school history.
In indoor track & field, Beegle anchored the SU distance medley relay to a national championship, running 9:57.25. No SU men’s relay had ever earned All-America honors indoors or outdoors prior to the 2011 DMR national championship. Then, one day after running the 1,600-meter anchor leg, Beegle came back and posted a national runner-up finish in the 5K, placing second. SU finished ninth at the 2011 NCAA Indoor Championships – the team’s best finish in school history. All of this was achieved running about a mile above sea level in Albuquerque, N.M. Outdoors, Beegle placed fifth in the 1,500 meters at the PSAC Championships. He ran a national qualifying time in the 1,500 meters (3:49.11) during the season but was unable to compete at nationals due to a previous commitment.
His success in 2011-12 resulted in a PSAC Winter Top 10 award and a PSAC Spring Top 10 award – marking the first time in school history that a men’s athlete won multiple PSAC Top 10s in same academic year.
Beegle graduated from Shippensburg in 2011 with a degree in criminal justice and a 3.8 cumulative GPA. He battled injuries at random points throughout his career; he redshirted during the 2008 indoor track & field season and the 2009 outdoor track & field season. As a result, Beegle competed as a graduate student in 2012 to fulfill his final year of eligibility in indoor track and outdoor track.
In his graduate season of 2012, Beegle set the PSAC indoor record in the mile (4:06.10), qualifying for the NCAA Championships, and also shattered the conference record in the DMR (9:47.57). At the PSAC Indoor Championships, Beegle won the PSAC title in 3K and finished second in the mile. Outdoors, Beegle placed fourth in the 1,500 meters.
After completing his athletic eligibility in 2012, Beegle became the sixth athlete in school history to receive an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship. He used that scholarship to finish his master’s degree in administration of justice from Shippensburg in 2013.
After graduation, Beegle began his career in law enforcement, working as a police officer in Ocean City, Maryland. While serving OCPD, he received a special commendation for life-saving action. In 2013, Beegle started his career with the Federal Bureau of Prisons. He has held numerous positions of increasing responsibility and now serves as the Senior Correctional Programs Specialist for the Northeast Regional Office, in Philadelphia, Pa.
Beegle is married to his wife Amanda, a former SU cross country/track & field runner. The couple got engaged on the Shippensburg University track in the middle of a run in 2017. The couple are the proud parents of a 1-year-old son, Jackson.
