Assistant women's track coach Scott Yakola used to always worry about senior Betsy Keever.
Keever is known to be very easygoing, and her laid-back attitude could often be misinterpreted for a lack of effort. Yakola recounted one story when Keever was at the starting line about to run in a trial heat at the 1993 ACC Championships. Right before the gun started, Keever spotted two of her friends in the crowd and started waving to them. Yakola thought the worst-that Keever was not concentrating on the race. Instead, the Asheville native went on to run her best time of the year.
"From that point on I thought, 'I will never worry about Betsy again,"' Yakola said. "And I never have."
Keever said her relative nonchalant attitude toward track has actually helped her succeed because she refuses to take any of her races too seriously. Her attitude is so unique that fellow senior Liz Hanly could not really describe Keever's personality. But she did say the team has managed to turn Keever into an adjective, as in "It's a Keever thing to do." According to Hanly, the definition for Keever is having fun, while being light-hearted and good intentioned.
Hanly could have also added hard worker. Keever may joke around before a race, yet she knows when she steps to the line that she must concentrate on the race. Based on her collegiate performances, she has had no trouble with that part.
"You have to step back and laugh and look at things and enjoy what is out there or you are not going to appreciate it and you are not going to do well," she said when asked about her laid-back attitude. "It's not worth it to kill yourself."
Both of Keever's parents are Duke graduates, so when she was a senior at T.C. Roberson High School, there really was no doubt on which college she would attend. She was such a strong student, she won an alumni scholarship to Duke. Even though she ran track in high school, it was only after a trip on the freshman pre-orientation program Project Wild that Keever really considered running track in college. Project Wild involves first-year students living in the wilderness for a week, being challenged with hiking and rather rough living. After she conquered that challenge, Keever realized she wanted another way to be tested. While running track isn't exactly hiking, she decided to join the team.
Four years after deciding to run track as something to challenge her, Keever has become one of the Blue Devils' top middle-distance runners. Yakola added that she is one of the best pure racers he has ever worked with. But he always had an inkling that Keever would become a top runner. Yakola said he knew her time of 2:26 in the 800 meters out of high school was below her capability. And as her times starting dropping during fall practice, he knew he had found a potential star runner.
"Halfway through fall practice, I knew this was a diamond in the rough, that this kid was going to be special and going to do a lot," Yakola said.
Yakola proved to be right, as Keever won the team's Outstanding Freshman Athlete Honors after the 1993 season. During her first year, she broke the freshman record in the 800 meters indoors. The next season, Keever continued to improve, garnering school records in the 1,000 meters indoors while being a member of the school-record indoor 4x800-meter relay, the distance medley, and the outdoor 4x800-meter relay. In her first two years, she was a part of six school records and appeared on 10 top-five lists.
Yet over the fall of her junior year, Keever decided to study abroad in Spain. She did so knowing that the time away would mean missing fall practice, which would affect her performance over the spring season. Still, she decided that being in a different environment was something she wanted to do and needed to do.
"Going abroad was just about life," she said. "I felt like that was an experience I wanted to have. I learned so much living in another culture, having the experience of a different language, a different people, a different everything. It changed my whole views of myself, our country and the world. I keep trying to see what I can do to balance everything."
When she returned for the spring semester, Keever did not perform as well as her previous two years. To compensate for the missed time, she spent the summer working extra hard on her running. Yakola said that her hard work over the summer was a major reason why Keever has had such great success this season. Earlier this season, Keever set the school record in the 800 meters. Then at last weekend's ACC Championships, Keever ran her personal best in the 1,500 meters with a time of 4:32.68. Yakola said her improvement has caught the attention of track aficionados across the conference.
"She has been on a number of school records, plus times that are phenomenal that make people turn their heads and think, 'Wow, this Duke kid is pretty good,'" Yakola said. "It's nothing magical. It's just a lot of hard work."
Keever's biggest struggle over her four years has been trying to accommodate both her academics and her athletics. She didn't come to Duke intent on running track, yet four years later she feels she has gotten more out of athletics than academics. While she said there are some things she would have done differently academically if she hadn't run, she would not give up her four years.
Keever's desire to do something adventurous will lead her to South America next year. She has no definite job lined up, but instead years to just assimilate with a different culture, most likely in Bolivia. She said that she knows she will do something that involves people. And that means a new group will learn rather quickly what being "Keever-like means."
"You spend 10 minutes with Betsy and you see what type of person she is," Yakola said. "This is someone that enjoys living. And those around her enjoy being with her, and it makes her better."
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.