Name: Nevaeh Brown

School: Bradley-Bourbonnais

Sport: Girls track and field

Year: Junior

Why she was selected: Not only did Brown sweep the 100 and 200 meter races at the Lincoln-Way Central Knight Invite on April 11, but she made Boilermaker history in the process. Her 200 time of 24.89 seconds broke a school record that had been set in 1982.

You recently broke a school record that’s stood for more than twice as long as you’ve been alive. Have you been able to put that in perspective yet?

It’s crazy to think that so many talented female athletes have taken part in B-B track and field before me and I am the one to break the record after 44 years. I’ve put so much hard work in and that was one of the accomplishments I wanted to achieve. Although it is a very exciting feeling, I don’t feel like that’s just the end goal. There is always room for improvement and I am not done making history yet. I’m going to treat this achievement as a milestone, not the finish line.

Where does that accomplishment rank for you personally amongst all of your track and field achievements?

Honestly, that accomplishment wasn’t my number one because I always knew I could do it with my ambition and training. Like I said, it’s really just a milestone to my track career and with my training, there are far more things to accomplish. I am very passionate about what I do so the more I fall in love with the progress, the less I worry about the results. Good feedback is always good but no matter what, there is someone in the world trying to get faster than you. I always keep that in the back of my mind for motivation and a push to always look for criticism to get better.

You’ve become a talented two-way student-athlete in both track and field and flag football. How much are you able to take from one sport to help you train and improve in the other and vice-versa?

My love for track and field is like no other, repeating the same words before competition like, “drive, be fast, knees up and stay focused.” I use these same words in the game of flag football as a running back. I do this to keep my mind sharp of what success I am supposed to deliver to both sports. I really get the discipline from track but being shifty in flag football is all skill. The explosiveness I have from track out of the blocks correlates to the sudden bursts or moves I do as a running back. Flag football improves my agility and reaction time to the gun in track. I admire both sports very much.

While running sprints, you are uniquely competing as an individual for your school rather than competing alongside and with your teammates like you do in flag football. Can you compare and contrast what it’s like as an individual athlete and being a part of a team?

As an individual athlete, the pressure is constantly on you. It’s the work you do when no one else is watching, the disciplined eating diet, the work you put in on your own, the game between your physical ability and mental ability, the countless hours you put in at the gym on your own. In the world of track and field, you fail? It’s on you. When you win, you know it was your own training that got you to that point. Being a team athlete on a flag football team is another conversation. You can rely on your teammates for motivation, trust, a person to lean on if you fall short or make a mistake. You’re doing it for the person next to you and also for a shared celebration of success. Track highlights my discipline for myself while flag football highlights the compassion and love for your teammates to win games. Teams with good chemistry win flag football games and athletes that have discipline win in the sport track and field.

With such an array of athletes in a variety of different events, how do you and your track and field teammates best develop team chemistry, and how important is it to have?

Even though we all end up doing different events during competitions, during practice are where the real bonds are made. My teammates are the biggest supporters and whenever anyone gets a win in practice they’re so quick to support one another. Or the moments where anyone falls short or looks a little down they’re all on it to make things better. It’s important to have supportive teammates in track and field because the sport is already individual. Practice is where winners are made and My teammates all contribute to my success.

What goals do you have for yourself and for the Boilermakers for the rest of the season?

My main goals the rest of this season are to stay healthy, stay positive, to trust in my progress and to always know that the sky is the limit.