Issue link: http://catalog.e-digitaleditions.com/i/140817
STUDENT SPOTLIGHT BRENDIN BEAULIEU-JONES It is Brendin Beaulieu-Jones' sophomore year and the sinewy hurdler from Vernon, Conn., has fought his way back from a devastating hamstring injury that sidelined him for the indoor season. PE AK | SUMMER 2 013 S tanding at the finish line of the Outdoor Heps at Yale on Sunday afternoon in early May of 2011, Dartmouth head coach Sandy Ford-Centonze watches as Beaulieu-Jones runs fluidly. She had entered him in the 400-meter hurdles the day before and while she wasn't surprised that he didn't make the finals given his earlier injury, she felt that experience would benefit him in this race, the 4x400 relay. Beaulieu-Jones is running well until the 200-meter mark when, to Ford-Centonze's horror, it is clear the hamstring has given out again. Knowing all that Beaulieu-Jones had been through with the leg, Ford-Centonze finds herself imploring him to, "Stop! Stop!" Nearby, the track team trainer is yelling the same thing. Beaulieu-Jones does not stop. Although he is losing touch with the leaders with every painful stride, he keeps running, finally handing off to senior Joe Lonek instead of pulling up. Lonek runs a strong leg but given the deficit he inherited it is no surprise that the Big Green relay finishes a distant last. Disappointed for Beaulieu-Jones, but also exasperated, Ford-Centonze approaches the runner, who is sitting on the ground. He is trying to apologize but his coach is having none of it. "I told him," she recalls two years later, "'I don't need or want your apology right now. What I want is an explanation, because you could have done a lot of damage. Why didn't you stop? Nobody would have blamed you.'" Ford-Centonze pauses to collect herself before going on. "He looked at me and he had tears in his eyes," she says in a solemn voice. "He said to me, 'Coach, Joe is a senior. I wanted him to run his last relay.' "That," Ford-Centonze says quietly, "broke my heart." Ask another of Dartmouth's Undergraduate Advisors – they are known as RA's at most schools – and you will probably hear that Beaulieu-Jones is the gold standard of the breed. As busy as he is, and make no mistake, he's about as busy as a college student can be, he is driven to have an impact on the lives of others. The biology major's interest in being a UGA stemmed from his siblings, who had