- Shelby Brown: Racking up points at two major invitationals. — Photo contributed by Kristy Brown
Kyrene Corridor athlete Shelby Brown is making quite a name for herself among high school distance-racing aficionados because of her accomplishments on the oval-shaped track.
Brown, a freshman at Xavier, has placed first this season in major track and field events in California.
She took first place in the 800 Meter Run and the 1600 Meter Run at the Great Oaks Invitational March 19, and first as part of Xavier’s 4×1600 Relay Race at the Arcadia Invitational.
The invitational is considered by many to be the premier high school track event in the West. Brown ran the anchor leg of the seeded 4×1600 relay race with teammates Savannah Gaffney, Julianne Vice and McKenna Gaffney.
Brown took the handoff with her team in fifth place and ran a 5:17 leg to cross the finish line first out of 29 teams that initially qualified for the event.
Brown, who attended Aprende Middle School, quit gymnastics in favor of running.
“I’ve always had an interest in running, but I was busy with gymnastics,” said Brown. “Then, in the seventh grade, I went out for the track team and did better than I thought. I quit gymnastics to do club track, and I’ve never looked back.”
Brown, who mainly runs the 800, 1600 and 3200 meter races, made Xavier’s Top Ten list in the 3200 Meter Run, with the No. 10 time, from her first place finish in 11:18 at the Scottsdale Distance Classic at Saguaro High School April 1. She most recently finished fourth a in the 3200 at the Division I state track meet.
Brown, the daughter of Kristy and Rob Brown, was more than surprised by her first-place finishes in her first big California track event, the Great Oaks Invitational March 19. She not only won the 800 and 1600 Meter ninth grade runs but had personal best times, as well.
“I was shocked when I came in first in the 800, five seconds ahead of the next runner,” said Brown. “I mean, my coaches believed in me, but when I’m on the starting line, I start to second guess myself.”
The 1600 Meter Run was much closer, with less than a second separating first and second place.
“During that race, I kept thinking that I’d worked too hard and I had come too far to just give up,” said Brown.
“I knew what needed to be done. I just kept saying, ‘you can do it, don’t give up because you’ve come too far,’ and I somehow pushed myself across the finish line first.”
Brown qualified for the Division I state meet in the 3200 with the fourth highest qualifying time of 11:18.26. She is the only freshman from Xavier running in the state meet but she will have to run a great race to beat her three team mates who qualified with the top three 3200 times.
Brown trains all year, running cross country races in the fall. As a matter of fact, she has the fastest 5000 meter Arizona freshman time for the 2010 cross country season, according to milesplit.com.
Brown has high aspirations after high school, too. “I would love to get a scholarship to Stanford and continue running,” said Brown. My goal is to place in the top 10 in the PAC 10 for cross country.”
Although Brown doesn’t compete in any other sport besides running, she finds time to be involved in worthy causes. She recently cut 11 inches off her hair to donate to the Locks of Love, an organization that makes wigs for cancer patients.
