Clear Creek Amana’s Bliss Beck is The Gazette’s 2024 Female Athlete of the Year

OXFORD — It starts with her address. Even that is unique.

Bliss Beck sends her home address and the street appears on your phone as “Iwv Road”.

Surely this is a mistake. Ivy Road, perhaps? Iowa Road?

What?

No, it is indeed IWV Road, short for “Iowa City/Williamsburg/Victor,” a western extension of Melrose Avenue outside Iowa City.

At the Beck residence (an Oxford address, but actually closer to unincorporated Cosgrove) there is a black steel gate.

The function of the fence is not so much what it keeps out, but what it keeps in: namely, the young family dog.

It’s a reminder of one of the saddest days Beck has ever experienced: December 3, 2021. That was also a day that cemented Beck’s dedication to her Clear Creek Amana teammates.

That morning, Bliss’ beloved 4-year-old pit bull mix, Izzy, was struck and killed by a passing vehicle on IWV Road, in front of their home. There was no fence at the time.

Let Beck’s mother, Shawn Flanagan, finish the story:

“We told Bliss at noon,” Shawn said. “She was devastated. She wanted to go home.”

But the Clippers had a basketball game against Solon that night, and according to school rules, Bliss, then a sophomore, was not allowed to attend school that day, nor was she allowed to play that night.

“Bliss said, ‘I can’t do that to the team,'” Shawn recalled. “So we went to a private room at school, and we sat there and cried until it was time for her to get on the bus.”

The Clippers lost the game and Beck lost a pet. But as a teammate and ultimately a leader, she won the day.

Beck and her team have won a lot since then.

Clear Creek Amana’s volleyball and basketball teams combined for a 72-1 mark in 2023-24, including a Class 4A state championship in basketball.

Today, Beck is a winner again. She’s being honored as the 2024 Gazette Female Athlete of the Year, the first honoree from her school — female or male — in the award’s 42-year history.

“One of the smartest kids I’ve ever coached”

Beck isn’t afraid to admit it. She wanted this.

“She’s quietly competitive,” her mother said. “She doesn’t say much. But she mentioned it this spring… ‘I hope I get that.'”

“Yes,” Bliss admitted, “I wanted to be the first in our school.”

Beck spent most of the summer traveling between IWV Road and Des Moines; in the fall, she will play volleyball and study psychology at Drake University.

“It’s clear that Bliss has a certain level of physicality, her size and her presence at the net,” Drake Coach Darrin McBroom said. “That can give her an edge and make her successful at this level.

“I haven’t coached her yet, but hearing about her work ethic and her character, we’re getting a great person in return.”

The people at home can confirm that.

“Very humble and caring,” CCA teammate Ava Locklear said of Beck. “I wasn’t the (star) she is in volleyball, but she never made me feel like she was better than me.”

That’s the “feeling” part of a highly analytical mind. Remember, Beck — owner of a 4.0 grade point average — is a prospective psychology major.

“I always ask our players how they want feedback,” says Jackie Clubb, CCA volleyball coach. “Bliss told me, ‘I’m very analytical.’

“Maybe that’s why she’s quiet… because she’s analyzing and processing.”

According to girls basketball coach PJ Sweeney, Beck is “one of the smartest kids I’ve ever coached, one of the most quick-witted and intelligent.

“Once you get to know her, she opens up a little bit and that sharp humor comes out.”

Analytical. That’s one way to describe Beck. Here’s another.

“She once told me she was a squirrel,” Clubb said.

Locklear said: “Bliss is so crazy. You have to spend time with her to understand. One day she brought a whole cauliflower to practice as a snack.

“Oh, and she loves her plants.”

Yes, she does.

As a recent interview on IWV Road was wrapping up, Beck and her parents (Drew Beck and Shawn Flanagan) invited a reporter into Bliss’s room. There, in a planter by a window, were several succulents, green and cheerful.

It was obvious that they got lots of sunlight, lots of water and lots of love.

The house is in the style of architect Frank Lloyd Wright. High ceilings are a must: Drew is 6 foot 8, Shawn 6 foot 1.

“When I moved to town, Shawn was a waiter at Wig and Pen in Iowa City,” said Drew, who played basketball at Eastern Illinois University.

“I was in love. I tipped her too much. I drank a lot of beer and ate a lot of pizza to get to know her. That was 24 years ago.”

Their only child, Bliss, is 6 feet 1 inch tall. Her body is well-suited for volleyball and basketball.

Growing up on the family estate in the rolling hills of southwestern Johnston County, Bliss spent many summer evenings with Drew and Shawn playing Wiffleball in the yard. Her first love, then, was softball.

Thanks to her long limbs, Beck was a prodigious pitcher and in her sophomore year of high school she posted a 22-6 record.

During the fall of her junior volleyball season, her arm started to hurt. Badly.

“It used to be tight around her. Now it was a burn, down her forearm,” Shawn said. “It started affecting her volleyball, it hurt when she hit it.”

The ulnar nerve was the culprit. There were two options. Surgery or stop throwing.

Beck chose the latter.

But that doesn’t mean she doesn’t miss it: “Pitching is an art,” she said, the eternal analyst.

Clear Creek Amana reached the state tournament in both volleyball and basketball in Beck’s junior year and unexpectedly reached the 4A finals in volleyball.

Last fall, during Beck’s final volleyball season, the Clippers were ranked No. 1 at 46-0 before falling to North Scott in the 4A state semifinals.

“It was so disappointing, it was heartbreaking,” Beck said. “It’s tough when everyone expects you to win. But North Scott was almost unbeatable that week.”

That left basketball. Beck was a complementary piece on offense behind Locklear and sophomore Averie Lower, but her real value came on the defensive end, where her length and wingspan made her a terror at the top of CCA’s 1-3-1 zone.

“If you had to guard a point guard or a post, you could count on her,” Locklear said.

Sweeney said, “You look at the stats. You may not have seen the points, but her impact on a game was unbelievable, the blocks and the changed shots.”

The Clippers finished the season 26-0, defeating Waverly-Shell Rock in the 4A finals 43-25.

Beck concluded her high school career with a state track and field meet, where she competed in a high jump event for the fourth consecutive year.

Then came graduation, and in early June, offseason training began at Drake. She spends her weekdays in Des Moines, her weekends at IWV Road.

During the week, we start lifting at 5:45 a.m. There could be an open spot at the center forward position in the Drake rotation this fall, and Beck said, “My goal is to get to that spot.”

Meanwhile, people at home are busy orienting themselves to life after Bliss.

“It’s like a grieving process,” Clubb said.

The nest at IWV Road will also be empty. Drew and Shawn will be tasked with tending to the pets and watering the succulents.

“I’ve told people they don’t realize how much life Bliss brings to this big house,” Drew said. “Soon it’s going to be so quiet.”

Bliss Flanagan Beck: 2024 Gazette Female Athlete of the Year

School: Clear Creek Amana High School

Date of birth: November 24, 2005

Family: Parents, Drew Beck and Shawn Flanagan

High school achievements: A two-time first-team all-stater in volleyball, who finished her career with 1,227 kills, 383 blocks and a .390 kill efficiency. Led the Clippers to a Class 4A state runner-up finish in 2022, a 46-1 record and a state semifinal berth in 2023. Started for CCA’s 4A state title basketball team (26-0), earning third-team all-state honors as a senior and scoring 658 career points. An effective softball pitcher through her sophomore season, she compiled a 22-6 record and was a four-time state track qualifier in the high jump.

Secondary school: Will play volleyball at Drake University. Plans to study psychology.

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