Warming up for his NEC Indoor Championships debut, Beard contested the 60m hurdles at the National Fastrack Invitational in Staten Island, NY last weekend. The first-year Seahawk clocked in under the qualifying standard for the IC4A Championships during the preliminaries and final. Beard ran the fastest time of all collegiate competitors during the prelims, crossing the line in 8.10. He finished fourth in the final. The freshman hurdler heads into the NEC title meet with the No. 2 seed in his signature event.