Brynn Brown’s record running didn’t end with the state meet.
Brown, a rising junior at Guyer High School, recently added another accomplishment to her ever-growing running resume by breaking the Texas state record for girls in the two-mile run while competing at the Brooks PR Invitational on June 17 in Seattle, Washington.
Brown told Texas Scorecard that it had been a busy day leading up to the race, and the balmy weather was not what a runner would hope for. She had some nerves going, she said, but she also felt like she was fit and ready to do something special in the race.
That she did. Brown crossed the finish line in a time of 9 minutes, 57.54 seconds, which placed third in the race and first in state history, according to dallasnews.com, which cited the Texas Track and Field Coaches Association website as listing London Culbreath as the previous record-holder in a time of 9:59.79 set in 2018.
“I felt a huge sense of achievement and almost disbelief initially when I crossed the line,” Brown said. “Girls that I used to idolize were now my rivals. It certified my place at the national stage.”
She increasingly has less competition on the Texas stage.
Brown is only a couple of months removed from a huge performance at the UIL Class 6A state meet in May in Austin. She not only set a new state-meet record (10:09.91) in the 3200 run for all classifications, but she also won the mile after finishing second in the event at the area and region meets.
Brown said the past few months couldn’t have gone much better, and cited her coaches and supporters for believing in her. But she also gave credit to an unusual source: her setbacks.
“Without adversity or defeat, I would not have won two state titles or be as fierce of a competitor as I am today,” she said. “Rather than crediting my performance at state for my most recent success, I credit my two defeats at area and region and the lessons they taught.”
In a few months, Brown will be running in another cross-country season and she goes into the season as the top returning finisher from last year’s 6A state meet. She has no other major running events planned the rest of summer in order to get ready for that campaign. There are no specific individual time goals in mind for her, she said, but she has daunting goals nonetheless.
“The most obvious one is to keep improving as an athlete in all areas. I want to bring home another state title, and continue to put my name in the record books,” she said. “I would also like to perform well at nationals, possibly even win. Above all, though, I’d love to see my team do well. Working with my team towards a common goal this season is a journey I’m looking forward to. Knowing my hard work and relentless pursuit is benefiting others is a special feeling.”
