Hall of Fame
BECK SYNOPSIS:
24-Year-Old SU School Record in Outdoor High Jump (5-9)
2-time NCAA All-American in High Jump
FRESHMAN – 1982-83 (team 7th place):
Third Place PSAC Triple Jump (35-0 ½)
Fourth Place PSAC High Jump (5-5)
SOPHOMORE – 1983-84 (team 1st place, first title in SU history):
All-American in High Jump (4th at Natls; 5-8; new SU record)
Second Place PSAC High Jump (5-7 ½; new SU record)
JUNIOR - 1984-85 (team 3rd place):
All-American in High Jump (6th at Natls; 5-6 ¼)
Second Place PSAC High Jump (5-5)
SENIOR - 1985-86 (team 4th place):
Second Place PSAC High Jump (5-7 ¾)
School Record High Jump at Home Dual Meet (5-9)
Jackie Beck was the first All-American in the history of SU women’s track & field. She was a conference placewinner four years in a row and still holds the outdoor school record in the high jump with a leap of 5-9.
As a freshman, Beck placed in two events at the PSAC championships in the spring of 1983. She was third in the triple jump with a leap of 35-0 ½ and fourth in the high jump, clearing 5-5. Shippensburg finished seventh in the team standings.
In 1984 Shippensburg won the conference championship for the first time in the team’s history. Beck cleared 5-7 ½ set a new team record in the high jump while placing second. She cleared the same height as the champion but lost because of more misses. A few weeks later Beck again broke the team record by jumping 5-8 at the national championships. She placed fifth and earned All-America honors –becoming the first SU women’s track athlete to become an All-American.
The following season Beck finished second again in the high jump at the PSAC championships. She cleared 5-5. Shippensburg was third in the team standings. At the national championships she earned All-America honors again by placing sixth with a leap of 5-6 ¼.
Her senior season resulted in another school record after she cleared 5 feet 9 inches in a dual meet against Dickinson on Apr. 28, 1986 from Seth Grove Stadium. Twenty-five years later, that mark still stands as the best in SU history for the high jump.
At the PSAC championships Beck took second place for the third year in a row, clearing 5-7 ¾. Again this was the same height as the winner but Beck had more misses.
In addition to her performances at the championship meets, Beck helped the Lady Raiders remain undefeated in dual meets from 1983 to 1988, a streak of 40 wins. That streak included a 12-0 record in 1984.
Beck is a graduate of Northeastern High School, where she won the PIAA state championship in the high jump as a senior with a school record of 5 feet 6 inches that also still stands. She earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology in 1986 and her master’s degree in psychology from Shippensburg in 1990. In 2001, Beck earned a master’s degree in school counseling from Johns Hopkins and has since been employed as a school counselor.
Beck has been married to Scott James, a detective for the York County DA’s office, for the last 17 years. The couple has two daughters: Madison and Hailey.
