National High School Records Through the Years

Boys Indoor Records – 60-yard low hurdles, 60-yard high hurdles

Eugene Beatty (Northeastern HS, Detroit, Michigan)

Performances – 7.9 (42-inch high hurdles), 7.0 (36-inch low hurdles) 

Date – March 23, 1929

Place – Evanston, Illinois (Patten Gym, Northwestern)

Meet – National Scholastic

Previous Records – Low hurdles equaled 7.0 by Frank J. Cuhel (Washington, Cedar Rapids, Iowa) 1923 and 1924; High hurdles bettered 8.0 by five hurdlers from 1920 to 1929

Eugene Beatty was one of the greatest trackmen in Michigan history. He was undefeated at the Michigan state meet, winning the high hurdles, low hurdles, long jump and running a leg on Northeastern’s 4x220 relay team two years in a row, 1927 and ’28. He graduated early in 1929 but was on the Northeastern team in March at the National Interscholastic, aka the Northwestern Invitational in Chicago, and for the second consecutive season won both hurdle races, the 60 highs and 60 lows. In ’28 he narrowly missed HSRs in both, running 7.1 in the lows and 8.1 in the highs. (Photo above is from the 1928 meet, Beatty is in the middle). In ’29, 96 years ago this week, he tied the record (7.0) in one, got the record (7.9) in the other. His dominance continued after graduation. Running for Eastern Michigan, he won the 440y hurdles three years in a row at Penn Relays and won the inaugural NCAA championship at the distance in 1932, the year of the LA Olympics. But a tragic series of events at that year’s Olympic Trials kept him out of the Games. Leading the field as they approached the final hurdle, he tripped and fell. Although he got up and finished the race, a different runner was given the third spot on the team. His athletics career over, Beatty became a career educator in Ypsilanti, Michigan, serving as principal of Perry Elementary School for 27 years where he established the innovative Perry Preschool Program, which eventually morphed into the federal Headstart.   

National High School Records Through the Years appears once a week, compiled and written by a track historian, Jack Pfeifer (Lake Oswego, Oregon). Inquiries may be directed to him by email ([email protected]).