Denton Guyer senior Brynn Brown celebrates emphatically after completing her second 1,600m/3,200m double
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Brynn Brown was the one to watch coming into the state meet with the fastest time of 9:59.17 which was more than 10 seconds faster than the state record; the state record she set back in 2019.
Brown, a senior from Denton Guyer took out strong in the lead to begin the race. All fans were wondering if they were going to either witness her break the national record or destroy her own state record. After the first 400, Brown had the lead with a split of 1:10.72.
Senior, Sophie Atkinson of Katy Cinco Ranch hung on to 2nd place and began to separate themselves from the rest of the pack.
Brown still led after 800 but began to fall off the national record pace a bit. She was still running strong with a split of 1:12.75. Through 1200 she already had a 40m lead over the second-place Atkinson who herself also had a 50m lead over the chase pack.
Brown came through the mile with a split of 4:51.92 and was cruising to her state title for 6A; Atkinson was also running at a fast race herself. In third place not to be outdone was Heidi Nielson, another senior from Katy Cinco Ranch who led the chase pack.
Brown distanced herself further from Atkinson and won the gold with a time of 9:58.77, which was off the national record, but it still shattered the state record. Atkinson finished 2nd with a 10:09.21, which was also below the state record and Neilson grabbed the bronze with a time of 10:23.14.
6A GIRLS 3200 METER RUN FINALS PLACE ATHLETE TEAM RESULT WIND H# 1 Brynn Brown 12 Denton Guyer 9:58.77 1 2 Sophie Atkinson 12 Katy Cinco Ranch 10:09.21 1 3 Heidi Nielson 12 Katy Cinco Ranch 10:23.14 1 4 Natalie Cook 11 Flower Mound 10:32.92 1 5 Aubrey O'Connell 11 Prosper 10:38.33 1 6 Emily Ellis 10 Bridgeland 10:46.64 1 7 Gemma Goddard 12 Austin Vandegrift 10:48.85 1 8 Emma Curry 12 Waxahachie 10:53.49 1 9 Kennady Fontenot 11 New Braunfels 11:12.24 1
Another stacked field for the 1600m with Nielson who was the silver medalist from 2019 and Brown the senior from Denton Guyer the reigning gold medalist also from 2019. The fastest qualifying time for today's race was from senior Atkinson with her regional time of 4:46.43.
Brown took it out early with a strong lead with Atkinson and Nielson also tried hard to stay right with her, but Brown wasn't about to easily relinquish her lead. Her first split after the first 400 was 1:07.17.
Brown hung onto her lead through 800 with Atkinson right on her hip, this was the time when they began to distance themselves from the rest of the girls. Every move Brown made, Atkinson was right there to counter it with one of her own. All of the way through 1,200m, Atkinson stayed with a stride of Brown.
On the bell lap, Brown maintained her lead with Atkinson not willing to call it quits. With 200 left, Brown kicked it into another gear to pull ahead and claim her second gold with a time of 4:41.29. This was 3/10 off the state record. Atkinson finished in second place with a time of 4:42.84 and Nielson captured the bronze with a time of 4:51.23.
The same three girls finished in that same order earlier in the day for the 3,200m This being the second state title for Brown and the second time she pulled the 1,600m/3,200m double including the 2019 races. This year is different, because Brown completed so much more withe her cross country championship in the fall, making her the Queen B!
6A GIRLS 1600 METER RUN FINALS PLACE ATHLETE TEAM RESULT WIND H# 1 Brynn Brown 12 Denton Guyer 4:41.29 1 2 Sophie Atkinson 12 Katy Cinco Ranch 4:42.84 1 3 Heidi Nielson 12 Katy Cinco Ranch 4:51.23 1 4 Emma Curry 12 Waxahachie 4:53.32 1 5 Keaton Morrison 12 Lewisville Hebron 4:56.40 1 6 Aubrey O'Connell 11 Prosper 4:59.17 1 7 Amalie Mills 12 Smithson Valley 5:01.10 1 8 Emily Ellis 10 Bridgeland 5:03.22 1 9 Gemma Goddard 12 Austin Vandegrift 5:04.00 1
