Washington Township’s Dahlia Beasley put together a lifetime-best heptathlon at a recent meet in Gainesville, increasing her PR from 5,143 to 5,217 points in her 2nd lifetime heptathlon.
That score is 6th-highest in Kentucky history and 5th-highest ever by a South Jersey woman.
Along the way, she recorded four wind-legal PRs.
Beasley opened with a 14.76 with a legal 1.6 tailwind for 874 points in the 100-meter hurdles. She ran 14.75 in Austin last month but that was aided by a 2.6 meters-per-second wind.
Next was the high jump, and Beasley cleared 5-5 ¼ for 806 points. Her PR is a 5-7 in her previous heptathlon in Austin last month.
Beasley threw 35-0 ½ in the shot for 574 points. That’s well beyond her previous PR of 30-7 from an indoor meet in Indianapolis in January.
Beasley sprinted to a 200 PR of 23.79 for a whopping 1,001 points. She’s run faster wind-aided, but this was a wind-legal PR, surpassing a 24.05 in Orlando in March.
Beasley went 18-7 ¼ with a legal 0.7 on her 1st attempt for 750 points in the long jump. Only a few inches off her PR of 18-11 ¼ from an indoor meet in December in Nashville.
After throwing 73-1 in the javelin for 331 points, Beasley finished with an 800 PR of 2:15.87, worth 881 points.. Well below her previous PR of 2:19.00 from an indoor pentathlon in Fayetteville in January.
During her one year at Rutgers, Beasley didn’t compete in any multi-events, never hurdled, never ran an 800 and never high jumped.
She’s now No. 10 in the SEC after just her 2nd lifetime heptathlon.
Here’s my best attempt at a South Jersey 5,000-point club:
5,870 … Nia Ali [Pleasantville], Sam Adams Combined Events, April 14, 2016, Santa Barbara, Calif.
5,640 … Tionna Tobias [Winslow Twp.], Big Ten Championships, May 12-13, 2023, Bloomington, Ind.
5,565 … Shana Williams [Bridgeton], World University Games, July 14-15, 1993, Buffalo
5,460 … Brianna Craig [Millville], Big Ten Championships, May 12-13, 2023, Bloomington, Ind.
5,217 … Dahlia Beasley [Washington Twp.], Tom Jones Memoriał, April 16-18, 2026, Gainesville, Fla.
5,050 … Elaina Styer [Ocean City], TCNJ Invite, April 9-10, 2026, Ewing
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 