A pair of local student athletes have returned to Carter County with a championship finish, and a second-place spot, following state-level KHSAA 2A competition at the University of Kentucky, earning their places on the track with a combined-distance long jump of 31 feet and 1 inch during regionals.
(Click photos to enlarge)
Anthony Beamish, 18 and a senior at East Carter High School worked with Braiden Bellew, who is in his junior year at ECHS, to claim the state title in the Unified Long Jump, and capture second place in the Unified 2x50 (Meter) Relay.
No one at ECHS calls Beamish by his name, instead they call him "Slick," a nickname he's grown fond of in recent years.
"I don't really remember how it started," he said with a grin. "It was during my middle school days - football."
"Everybody here knows who Slick is," said Becky Crum, Employment Specialist at ECHS. After graduation, he plans to enroll for further training at the Carl D. Perkins Center near Paintsville. She added he was selected a a member of the Homecoming King Court, to be featured during an upcoming "powderpuff" football game.
He is already studying at the Carter County Career & Technical Center, where he especially enjoys developing his welding skills. At the Perkins Center, Slick said he is excited about becoming a certified forklift operator.
Both Bellew and Beamish are members of their school's track and football teams (Beamish plays wide receiver and cornerback and Bellew is a running back), although he was not able to play during the season's early games due to Covid-19 protocols. "But I'm in for the rest of the year," he noted.
Beamish and Bellew enjoy each other's company on and off the field.
"Yeah, we're friends. We get along real well," Slick said, adding Bellew motivates him "to work harder."
"Slick" said he felt positive about their chances of doing well in the state competition.
"I felt pretty good. I had a lot of confidence in myself," he said, later smiling as he acknowledged he always wears his "magic shoes" when running and jumping. The large crowd present for the state games, however, did cause some concern.
"I got nervous with so many people ... I just took off when Braiden handed (the relay baton) off to me," he said.
His training begins by lifting weights in January and February, with outdoor training from March until June.
"He gets about two weeks off after state and then football starts," Crum said.
When he isn't training or competing, Slick said he likes to spend time with friends and work out at home, as well as hanging out with his grandfather, Dave "Louie" Jones.
"We like to joke around a lot ... talk. And we throw the football when he's at my house."
Bellew said he "felt excited about winning and honored to run with Slick."
Bellew said his activities with his friend Slick include "hyping him up and dancing (as part of their pre-game preparations)."
"My favorite memory is how happy and excited Slick was at that First-Place podium," Bellew said.
Jaimie Tiller, who serves as the ECHS Unified sponsor in addition to coaching track and teaching science, noted the two young men were among five state-level student athletes from the school, along with Riley Brown, Kanyon Kozee and David Hutchinson.
"Slick is perfect in every way. Everyone is different and everyone learns differently," Crum said. A recent example of his personality and ethics was displayed during a recent game of "Duck, Duck, Goose" with children in an adaptive physical education class. During the chase segment of the game, she said Slick's true colors came shining through.
"He let a young kid catch the state champion."
Bellew's teachers and coaches also had much praise for him.
"Braiden is an amazing young man who is kind, compassionate and encouraging. He's the hype man!"
Each of the athletes will be honored with blue and white signs which will soon be mounted along Carol Malone Boulevard.
Story by TIM PRESTON
Carter County Post
Photos courtesy of ECHS
"Unified Sports joins people with and without intellectual disabilities on the same team. It was inspired by a simple principle: training together and playing together is a quick path to friendship and understanding."