Grinnell’s Beverly (Heier) Birney was awestruck by her first state track and field meet in 1980. 

Heier, now Birney, was already known in western Kansas circles after bursting on the scene in junior high, and it didn't take long to put the rest of the state on notice.  

“I don’t think we really understood what the state track meet was,” Birney said. “We didn’t even know who we were competing against. I remember as a freshman winning the 100, I thought it was really cool because they took you up into the stands to get your medals. 

“That was probably my first ‘wow’ moment.”

But it was far from her last. 

That first state meet set the tone for a legendary career for Birney, who was inducted into the Kansas State High School Activities Association Hall of Fame during Day 2 of state track on May 31 in Wichita. 

Birney, now a teacher and coach at Bucklin, couldn’t have asked for a better setting to celebrate her decorated career in which she captured 11 first-place medals. For the past four decades, she's called Cessna Stadium a second home during state track weekend.

“It’s just absolutely one of the best weekends for my family every year,” she said. “To be inducted into the Hall of Fame on that weekend, it’s icing on the cake.”

And it got even better. 

Heading into the meet, Birney was still the co-record holder in the 1A 100-meter dash with a 12.3 she clocked in 1983. 

“Every year my family always gives me a hard time because I say ‘(The record) is going to go this year,’ ” Birney said before the meet. “It would be karma if it happened this year.”

Birney’s prediction finally came true, with Ness City’s Taegin Liggett taking down the meet record with a 12.25. Liggett and Birney met up afterward to capture the moment. 

The past month has been an emotional roller-coaster for Birney. 

Birney’s family home that she was raised in was lost after an EF3 tornado struck Grinnell on May 18. 

“That community backed us so much when we were growing up there,” she said. “We went back to clean it up, and there was so much help. It was unbelievable. 

“I couldn’t have asked for a better place to grow up. It was a very close-knit community and it still is.”

Birney’s prodigious talent started to show well before she entered high school. 

“In sixth grade, a teacher told my mom, ‘You’ve got to get this kid in track,’ ” Birney said. “Seventh and eighth graders were all that could run, but there was one track meet where they let me run with the seventh and eighth graders. I remember running that and breaking the school record.

“I started running junior olympics, and then it just went nuts, I guess.”

At the time, a dirt oval around the football field served as Grinnell’s track. 

“Every time we got to run on a good track, it was like, ‘Wow, this is pretty crazy.’ ”

Grinnell’s Class of 1983 produced another KSHSAA Hall of Famer in Jacque (Struckhoff) Stedman, who went on to become a four-time All-American in cross country and track at Kansas State University.

“To have a very good friend and teammate in there with me, that’s a real highlight for me,” Birney said. 

Birney still marvels at the top-notch talent in Grinnell at that time. The Warriors won team track and field championships in three of her four years (1980, 1982, 1983).

With just a six-person team, the Warriors amassed a whopping 89 points at the meet in ’83. The team was comprised of Birney, her sister Christy Heier, Jacque Struckhoff, Karen Struckhoff, Cindy Baker and Kim Struckhoff. 

“Now being a coach, I appreciate and understand a whole lot more what we did accomplish back then, knowing how hard it is to get athletes to the state meet, and be state champions,” Birney said. “We were very blessed to have great students, great athletes, great coaches and a great community.”

Birney won six individual state titles on the track, capping her career with titles in the 100, 200 and 400 as a senior. 

She finished with a total of 21 state medals across three sports. Birney helped the Warriors cross country team win championships in 1980 and 1981. 

“That was a lot of fun,” she said. “We really grew as people and grew as athletes doing that. Same thing in basketball. It was a time when girls athletics was really starting to grow.”

Birney went on to run track at Barton Community College, where she was a nine-time All-American. 

She then transferred to Wyoming and had a solid first season before a stress fracture in her foot hampered her final college season.

“I didn’t end the way I wanted to, but God works in mysterious ways,” she said. “Maybe it was time for me to be done.”

After earning her teaching degree, Birney taught and coached at Tipton High School for five years. She’s been at Bucklin ever since, coaching track and teaching social science. 

Her and husband Kevin have two children, Cameron and Mackenzie. 

Cameron is sports director and lead broadcaster for Kiowa County Media Center. He called the 1A 100-meter race in which his mother’s record was broken. Mackenzie is studying veterinary medicine at Kansas State University and got married the week after state track.

Birney said it was a whirlwind couple of weeks for her family. 

“I’m very humbly honored,” she said of her induction. “Never in a million years did that thought cross my mind to get this honor, a small-town kid from Grinnell.

“I was just blessed with some fantastic classmates, teammates and coaches. We just made each other better.”