Matthew Beckstead started his track & field coaching career at his high school alma matter, Rancho Bernardo in San Diego, California in 2009.  In his four seasons with Rancho Bernardo, Matthew worked closely with one of San Diego’s most decorated and recognized head coaches, Don Jones.  It was during this time that Matthew fell in love with coaching track & field and decided to pursue it as a career.   During his time at Rancho Bernardo, Coach Beckstead excelled quickly, playing an integral role in developing one of the strongest sprinting programs in San Diego County. 

In 2013, Matthew went on to be the sprint coach for La Costa Canyon High School, in Carlsbad, Ca.  In his first season with the program, he led the girls sprint team to obtain the San Diego Section CIF Girls Team Title.  His girl’s 4x100m relay ran 48.81 to break the school record in that event.  During the same season he coached the top male sprinter in the county, capturing both the 100m and 200m titles.  This same athlete went on to set the school record in the 200m and made it to the state meet level; running in both events where he finished 7^th in the state finals in the 200m.

In 2014, after one year with La Costa Canyon, Matthew accepted a position to be Co-Head Coach alongside Bob Sisler.  They worked together to build one of the strongest high school track & field programs in San Diego.  In his first year as head coach, Matthew would lead the men’s 4x100m to achieve the second fastest time in La Costa Canyon High School’s history.  That relay team qualified to run at the state meet level.  Also during that track season, Matthew led Michelle Gould to advance to the state meet level, running the second fastest time in the school’s history running 56.49.  As a part of a team, the girls team finish second at CIF.     

The following Fall, Matthew was invited to assist the cross country program working closely with one of the most successful coaches in San Diego County, Bill Vice.  After being introduced to the distance side of the sport; Matthew quickly developed a passion for coaching cross country and sought additional trainings and mentorship to enhance his knowledge of the sport. After coaching several back to back seasons with the Mavericks, Matthew was able to fine tune his coaching acumen, broaden his overall knowledge of track and field and garnered a newfound respect for the sport of distance running. While coaching at La Costa Canyon, athletes trained by Matthew went on to be runners-up on both the men’s and women’s side. These athletes would ultimately go on to be named the San Diego Section CIF Champions on both the men’s and women’s side the following season..

In his final season with La Costa Canyon, Coach Beckstead was able to lead the boys team to their first ever league championship in the school’s history.  He successfully led two boys to become individual league champions in the 100m, 200m, 400m.  In that same year the boy’s team would receive runner-up recognition for the team title at CIF, which was also a first for the school.  During that season Coach Beckstead trained and guided Karson Lippert to become the Male CIF Sprinter of the Year recipient.  In 2016 Karson set the Sophmore record in the 400m running 47.83 and tying record in the 200m running 21.57 at the Dick Wilkins Frosh-Soph Invite. He would then go on to win CIF in the 400m and finish second in the 200m.  This season was highlighted by Karson finishing second place at the California state meet, running 46.91, which would be second on the all-time list in San Diego Section history.

In addition to the above successes that season, the 4x100m LCC team finished fifth overall.  And Coach Beckstead led two girl sprinters to finish in the top 7 in for the 200m. One of which, finished top 5 in the 100m at CIF.  This was crucial in La Costa Canyon securing the girls Division II team title. At the end of such a noteworthy, successful season Coach Beckstead was publically recognized with a nomination for San Diego section Coach of the Year.

Coach Beckstead is a USATF Level One Certified Coach.  He has also obtained a USATF Learn by Doing Certification for both sprints and hurdles.  Coach Beckstead most recently became a Certified Strength and Conditioning Coach through USATFCCA.  Matthew has a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from California State University San Marcos. Coach Beckstead is getting ready to start his Masters level education in Kinesiology with a specialization in Coaching to further enhance his knowledgebase and specialization in coaching track and field at the collegiate level.

In the Fall of 2017, Matthew accepted a position with San Diego Mesa Community College to assist in coaching the men’s cross country program and to oversee the sprints, hurdles and relays for the track and field program in Spring 2018. 

As a San Diego native, Matthew graduated from Rancho Bernardo High School in 2000, where he ran for Coach Don Jones.  He continues to hold and share the school record in the 4x400m with current Mesa San Diego Head Coach Sean Ricketts, with a time of 3:18. Prior to attending California State University San Marcos, Matthew acquired his Associates degree from San Diego Mesa College. While at San Diego Mesa he competed on both the football and track & field teams.  He later transferred to University of Redlands to play football.  He later returned to San Diego to complete his higher education and would go on to meet his wife and start a family. He currently lives in Del Mar with his wife, son and daughter.