Mon, Nov 23 2009
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Leaving a lasting legacy Beard helped definite athletic program at Missouri Southern From basketball to track
Beard coached the Lions’ basketball team for three years, compiling a 35-21 record. “I stayed in coaching for quite a while because we started out with the three basic sports, then we added volleyball,” Beard said. “When I got out of coaching basketball, that’s when I moved into track, and I coached track and field quite a while. “That’s where I really developed my coaching skills, I think. I really enjoyed coaching, and at that point, I really didn’t care what sport I coached. But I think I became more knowledgeable in the area of track and field than I did in any of the other sports that I coached.” Patty Vavra, a standout at Memorial High School in Joplin, was a freshmen on the Lions’ first women’s track team in 1976. “When Sallie recruited me for basketball, I told her I wanted to run track as well,” said Vavra, now the MSSU women’s track coach. “She was my basketball coach one year, my track coach all four years. “She was tough as a coach and learning at the same time. She pushed you hard but was happy to see you do well when you did do it.” Beard’s years as track and field coach opened doors for her nationally and internationally. “That was back when we were in the NAIA and I wound up being on the national games committee for NAIA (from 1979-83),” she said. “The NAIA put my name in, and I wound up having the opportunity to travel internationally with the U.S. track and field team. “I traveled with the Olympic team to Romania to participate in the World University Games (in 1981). What a great experience that was because Edwin Moses, Carl Lewis, Carol Lewis, Jackie Joyner-Kersee ... You look back at that group that entertained all of us in how many Olympics, and I was right there, part of the coaching staff. I got to watch them as pups develop into international stars.” Women’s athletics director In 1976 Missouri Southern announced it would have two athletics directors — Beard for the women’s department and football coach Jim Frazier for the men’s department. “I don’t think Jim wanted to do all of it,” Beard said. “He needed time to devote to being the football coach. I think it was a way to deal with the staffing that we had ... how can we take care of all the sports.” The two-AD system continued for 25 years and naturally there were some problems, but nothing escalated to a major proportion. “There may have been jealousy, but I don’t feel like it was ever a real point of friction, and I credit Jim Frazier with that,” Beard said. “Jim Frazier was ahead of his time in terms of the way he treated me and the way he looked upon women’s athletics. Certainly he was from the old school, but what Jim Frazier did was recognize that the times were changing, and I couldn’t have asked for a better colleague to work with. 
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