Raechel Brown achieved a first for Oklahoma City University in the Sooner Athletic Conference cross country championships.
Brown finished 12th overall in the conference meet to become the first OCU runner to receive all-conference honors.
“I started off a little faster than I thought I was going to, because usually I have bad starts,” Brown said. “So I just tried to hold on to that and kept telling myself to keep going.”
Brown, a freshman from Edmond, Okla., turned in two top-10 finishes in her first season to go along with her 12th place finish at the SAC championships and is this week’s Super Star of the week.
“It was a lot different, because coach Holt has us running a lot more mileage than I’m used to coming from high school were we didn’t lift weights or anything,” Brown said. “He just has it very individualized instead of everyone running the same thing, so it was a lot better for me and I think it helped me be a better runner.”
Brown leads a women’s cross country squad that is made up of six freshmen and one junior.
“I know we are going to be very close because we are all freshman,” Brown said. “We have a lot of the same classes together and we are all really close friends. I think that is better for us because there won’t be any drama, and when we add more freshmen we’ll be the leaders and know what’s happening and can take them under our wing and I think the program is going to build up very well.”
Brown, majoring in cell and molecular biology, says she doesn’t run for fun.
“I like to run,” Brown said. “Even though it is weird, it helps me de-stress and helps me be a better person I think.”
More on Raechel:
My nickname: Raechie
Prerace ritual: Visualize the whole race in my head and go through all the different scenarios
Reason I picked OCU: It’s a great school and I was able to run here as well
Career plans: Major in biology and hopefully get into medical school
If I were President I would: Pass laws that would help protect the environment
