DON BEATTY: Newport Beach

Steve Virgen

In the early 1950s, Newport Harbor High ruled the cross country

courses and Don Beatty enjoyed every day of the success. It was the

type of experience that helped lead Beatty into teaching and

coaching, which created more wonderful memories.

When Beatty graduated from Newport Harbor, the Sailors had won 54

straight dual cross country meets. Thanks also to Todd White, they

garnered a fifth-place finish in CIF, the highest any Newport sports

team had accomplished at that time.

“We had a powerhouse going there,” said Beatty, who lives in

Newport Beach. “My best memories include Todd White and Larry Castro,

who ran barefoot. He was an interesting case. He was offered shoes,

but he didn’t want them. We also had Auggie Ostrosky and Otis

Boling.”

Beatty also enjoyed success in track and field. He set three

school records in the bee and cee divisions, so, in that sense, his

records remain intact. He set school records in the 660, 1,320 and

the varsity 880 races.

In the 880, Beatty completed the school’s first sub-two-minute

run, finishing in 1:59.7. In the 1,320, he broke a 21-year old CIF

record by finishing in 3:11.9.

After high school, Beatty attempted to continue his running in

college, but he endured severe knee problems, which took away his

speed. He suffered from Osgood-Schlatter disease, which causes

swelling and pain just below the knee.

“When I got to college, the knees wouldn’t go,” he said. “I

couldn’t even climb stairs.”

After earning his bachelor’s and master’s degree at Long Beach

State, Beatty went into teaching and eventually became a cross

country and track and field coach.

He said his uncles provided great inspiration for him. His uncles

included Melvin, who played baseball at Oregon, Blanchard, who was a

backup quarterback at USC, and Elwood, who was an All-Sunset League

fullback at Newport Harbor.

After college, in 1967, Beatty returned to his local stomping

grounds and became a teacher in the Newport-Mesa District. He was an

assistant coach for track and field at TeWinkle Middle School, then

the following year he moved over to Estancia, where he informally

provided his experience and coaching for the cross country and track

and field teams. He served as head coach of the Eagles’ cross country

team for a few years.

“Coaching with Tom Fish and Don Burns was always a plus,” said

Beatty, the latest honoree of the Daily Pilot Sports Hall of Fame.

“The 70s were good years for sports with well-behaved, hard-working

kids. One season I had 44 with no assistant coach. One thing I recall

was being, perhaps, the first cross country coach in Southern

California to allow girls to run. They ran in the boys junior varsity

races. It was my good fortune to work with Natalie Fernandez, who

held the Estancia two-mile mark for 21 years.”

Beatty also taught at Costa Mesa. He eventually left coaching

because he said his time commitments with teaching conflicted with

spending time with his teams. However, he influenced many lives by

passing on the importance of preparation.

“My thought was what was successful was whether an athlete learned

how to train and then made improvements,” said Beatty, who enjoyed

cross country and track and field because of the rare opportunities

the sports provided. “Although there was team camaraderie, the fact

that it was an individual thing was an attraction for me because it

avoided the team aspect and other pressures that come with all that.”

Beatty, 65, has had five joint operations and said he, “survived

34 years of public school teaching.” He is retired and stays active

with jogging, rowing, swimming and hiking.