UMSL junior Justice Beard holds up three fingers are winning the women’s 1,650-yard race on Saturday evening to capture her third individual title at this week’s NCAA Division II Swimming and Diving Championships in Evansville, Indiana. Beard is the first UMSL swimmer in history to win a national title. (Photo by Jared McFarlane)
University of Missouri–St. Louis Swimming Coach Tony Hernandez remembers Justice Beard starting to ponder what might be possible over the remainder of her college career after she first competed in the NCAA Division II Swimming and Diving Championships as a freshman in 2024.
“She got seventh in the mile, and she was like, ‘What if I win a national title?’” Hernandez said.
By that point, Hernandez was fairly confident she’d be in contention for at least one before her career ended. Three more top-eight national finishes – in the 500-, 1,000- and 1,650-yard freestyle races – her sophomore year only boosted the expectations that he had for Beard, and that she had for herself, coming into her junior season.
But this week at the NCAA Division II Championships in Evansville, Indiana, Beard accomplished more than either she or Hernandez would’ve ever imagined coming into the year. She won all three of the distance events in commanding fashion to become the meet’s only three-time individual champion.
“We were confident after last year of what she could do in the mile,” Hernandez said. “A lot of times the mile and 1,000 go hand-in-hand. But being able to do what she did in the 500 freestyle was a big surprise. It wasn’t something I would have bet on. The goal was just one. Getting three was incredible.”
With her family on hand to cheer her on, Beard, a junior biology major from McCracken County High School outside Paducah, Kentucky, became UMSL’s first NCAA swimming champion. She also joined the 1973 men’s soccer team and men’s golfer Joel Sylven as the Tritons’ only national champions in school history.
Beard entered the national meet as the No. 1 seed in the 500-, 1,000- and 1,650-yard races after posting the fastest times in the country this season in each event. But neither she nor her coach was taking anything for granted when she climbed onto the starting blocks Wednesday night for her first individual event, the 1,000-yard race, at the Deaconess Aquatic Center in Evansville, Indiana.
What transpired over the next 9 minutes, 45.7 seconds was validation of everything Hernandez had come to believe about Beard. He watched her lead wire-to-wire, pulling away over the last 500 yards of what had been a head-to-head duel with Nova Southeastern senior Hailey Williams, to win by nearly five seconds in the fifth-fastest time ever at the NCAA Division II meet. Beard dropped 4.07 seconds off her seed time to break her own school record.
“You could tell Justice could feel how fast she went out,” Hernandez said. “She almost went out in her best time in the 500 at that 500 split. She got out quick, as fast as she’s ever been. She definitely felt it. But by the end, she knew the emotions and what she’d finally accomplished was there, so she was able to close. It was a lot of fun. It was really, really special.”
Williams placed second in a time of 9:50.42, nearly two seconds over her own seed time. She had been able to stick close with Beard over the first 500 yards, losing ground when the two were swimming between the flags but then creeping back closer at the turns. At the race’s halfway mark, the two swimmers were separated by 0.29 seconds.
But there was no denying Beard over the final 500 yards. She’d stretched her lead out to about a full second after 600 yards, more than 2½ seconds through 900 and continued pulling away all the way to the finish. Her final split – 27.83 seconds – was topped only by her first, and she knew right when she touched the wall what she had done, pausing for a moment of reflection and then looking over toward her supporters and throwing her hand up in celebration.
Beard was just getting started for the week.
She picked up honorable mention All-American honors in the women’s 200-meter race with a 16th-place finish on Thursday but was really resting up for the Friday’s 500-yard race and the 1,650-yard event on Saturday. She did not disappoint.
Beard won the 500 on Friday by more than 2½ seconds with Williams again finishing as her next closest challenger. She posted a time of 4:48.09, breaking her own school record as she recorded the seventh fastest time in the event at an NCAA meet.
She saved her most dominant performance for Saturday’s 1,650, getting off to a blistering start as she opened up a lead of more than two seconds through the first 100 yards.
It was clear she was racing against the clock more than the competition.
“She was really gunning for a time getting under 16:20, and she ended up dropping a little bit, but she she was just a little off,” Hernandez said. “I think she was a little fatigued.”
Beard still continued pulling away from her counterparts with splits hovering in the 0:29-to-0:30 second range, lapping two of the other racers in the final heat along the way. She turned it up even more over the final 50 yards, posting a split of 27.42 seconds as she finished more than 12½ seconds in front of Williams, who again settled for second place.
Beard couldn’t eclipse 16:20, but her time of 16:24.18 was nearly 7/10ths of a second faster than the school-record mark she posted as a runner-up as a sophomore. She has a new target for next year.
She wound up scoring 61 points for the Tritons individually and also teamed with juniors Audrey Lantz and Ella Lantz and senior Romina Itzkovich to earn honorable mention All-American finishes in the 200- and 400-yard freestyle relays.
Both Lantzes, Itzkovich and Uxue Ortiz de Pinedo also received honorable-mention All-American recognition in the 200- and 400-yard medley relays.
Beard’s success has lifted the UMSL program, which finished the meet in 15th place out of 35 teams with a total of 75 points. It’s the highest finish at the national meet for the team, breaking the mark set last year when the Tritons finished 20th with 52 points in Indianapolis.
“I know her performances last year built up the program a good bit and brought a lot of notoriety, so this hopefully takes that to another level,” Hernandez said. “We’re going to have a lot of shoes to fill with this junior class, not only Justice but Audrey and Ella and Kelsey Roth, who’s coming back from an injury from last year. But it means a lot to the program.”
Senior Aaron Wicklund was the only UMSL swimmer competing on the men’s side. He came away with honorable mention All-American honors in the men’s 200-yard breaststroke, capping his career by finishing sixth in Saturday’s consolation final with a time of 1:59.77 to place 14th overall.
“Aaron had an incredible swim,” Hernandez said. “He was really locked in on what he could do in 200 breaststroke. He was there his sophomore year, qualifying in the 400 individual medley, so it was good to get him back and be able to score in his last one. He’s been a good leader for us, a captain on our team and always someone that we could put into strong events and tough events – race the distance freestyle, the 400 IM, the 200 breaststroke. He’d be on sprint relay. We could really use Aaron wherever we needed him, so we’ll definitely miss him next year.”
