“I just wanted to make it to the next level”.
Approaching the end of his last year of high school, both, senior Byron Brown and Northwestern Oklahoma State University made his commitment to NWOSU’s track and field jump team public on March 5, 2025.
After becoming the first athlete on the 2025 Caney Creek track team to commit for track and field, Brown has his family’s, teammates’, and coaches’ eyes on him. He started track and field towards the end of his sophomore year at Cypress Park High School.
“I really started just to stay in shape,” Brown admitted. “When I first started competing, it was just me and my other friend, he committed to TCU, but he was always better than me so I always thought I was bad. [At track meets] when he’d place first I always got towards the bottom because I had just started and I wasn’t good”.
Brown spoke of Jamitirus Jessie, a college freshman and Texas Christian University. Jessie is a Cypress Park High School Alumni, ranked at third for horizontal jumpers in the state of Texas.
“He just told me to keep working and that’s what I did”. Brown said. “I always practice and focus on what I’m not doing right and workout a lot to perfect it”. “[He] passes down tips that he gets from his coach so it’s really helpful to me so that when I go to college, there’s things that I’ll have to learn but nothing I’ll have to be retaught or completely change”.
Going from high school to college level athletics is a big step, and the decision wasn’t effortless for Brown either. Choosing a college was just one of the struggles he had to face. Another one of his top choices was Fort Hays Tech University in Kansas.
“They were one of the colleges that offered me enough money, but they didn’t check on me to see how I was doing; at least not often, so I didn’t feel wanted. A good coach makes you feel wanted”. Brown said. “He [Tamaj Gordon, NWOSU’s assistant track coach] checked up on me almost every day and even came to watch me at multiple track meets this year”. “It made me feel good actually; no other college coach had done that for me”.
Though Brown is leaving the state for college this fall, he won’t be going too far. He was tentative about his other college options because of the separation from his family but this just makes NWOSU almost perfect for him.
“The hardest part? I was timid on how far away from home I wanted to go at first but I chose this because it isn’t too far from my family”.
As Brown closes out his senior year of high school jumping a PR of 23 feet, he believes that this year prepared him well for college. “[Coach] Bennet pushed me more than I could this year”. He stated. “It really is all just mental though. Mental preparation is really important, because if you’re not mentally ready, then you’re gonna perform badly. If you don’t have a good mindset, that’s how you’re gonna perform.”
