FACING TRIALS

By: Alexis Brown
Champions' TriBUne is a special feature through Baylor Athletics that gives you the student-athlete's perspective and the chance for them to share their own story. Alexis Brown, a second-year transfer from Florida, earned her first-career All-America honors with a fifth-place finish in the long jump at the NCAA Indoor Championships. The Kennedale, Texas, native has set school records in the event indoors (21-6 ¼) and outdoors (22-5), a mark she set in winning the Big 12 Outdoor title. Alexis also ran a leg on the 4x100-meter relay that broke the Clyde Hart Track & Field Stadium record with a winning time of 43.16 at the Big 12 Outdoor meet, adding Big 12 Women's Performer of the Year honors. Accepted to Baylor's MBA program after graduating in May with a degree in health, kinesiology and leisure studies, Brown has qualified in the 100 meters, long jump and 4x100 relay for the NCAA West Preliminary Rounds that begin Wednesday in Fayetteville, Ark.:

"You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand," John 13:7, the Bible verse that explains the journey God has taken me on during my years as a collegiate track and field athlete.

My journey has been faced with many trials and one that has tested my faith like no other. This is my fifth year in college, and I am just now being able to compete healthy and pain free. The last time I was able to fully compete in a full indoor and outdoor season was my senior year in high school. Throughout my college track career, I have dealt with multiple injuries, had ankle surgery and transferred schools.

I began my collegiate journey at the University of Florida in the summer of 2019 without knowing the journey God was about to take me on. Adversities started to hit that fall, when I started experiencing excruciating pains in my lower back. I couldn't sleep at night, my legs would become tingly, and my training ultimately stopped. It wasn't until after we came back from Christmas break when I got an MRI and realized I had a bilateral pedicle L3 stress fracture, an L5 stress fracture and spondylolisthesis in both my L4 and L5 vertebrae. I was then told I was going to be in a back brace for eight weeks with no form of activity. I was devastated, confused, miles away from home and felt the loneliest I ever have. Finally, after two long months, I was able to take my back brace off and start back doing activity, but then COVID came, and I was sent back to Texas until August. I spent those months at home working out, growing in my faith and preparing to attack my sophomore year.

It was August of 2020 when I was able to finally go back to Gainesville and start preparing for the next track season. A couple months into training, I started getting weird pains in my foot that just seemed to continually get worse throughout the weeks. My foot would swell after every practice, I would get bruises around my ankle, and the pain would wake me up out of my sleep. I tried everything to toughen up and compete during indoor season, including foot injections, medication, taping and so many other things, but nothing seemed to help. I was going to meets in pain and performing the worse I ever had. My anxiety and depression began to rise because of my performance, and I began questioning whether or not I was good enough to do this sport. It was finally May of 2021, when I fell at practice because I couldn't put any pressure on my foot, and I was taken in immediately to get images done that came back showing I had a calcaneal stress fracture. I was lost, confused and thought this was the end of my track career.

When it was time for me to go back to Gainesville, I realized just how unhappy I was and how tired I was of getting injured, but I told myself that I can't give up now. The season of 2022 was about to start, and I was still dealing with foot issues and shin pains that got in the way of my training and led to terrible performances. During this time, my family and I decided that it was best for me to transfer for the sake of both my physical and mental health. I ended up transferring to Baylor University, where I found my worth and happiness again.

Everything seemed to be going good until the first meet of the 2023 season, when my foot began swelling and bruising again. I went through another spiral and thought my track career was over for good because of how mentally tired I was. After still being in pain for a couple of weeks, my trainers took me to a doctor where they found that I had ostrigonum, which is an extra bone in your foot. I then had to get surgery to remove it, praying that I would no longer be dealing with the foot pains I've had the past three years. Throughout my recovery, I had my doubts, my worries and my anxieties, but the Lord said to keep fighting, and that's what I did. Fast forward to this 2024 season, where I am finally healthy and happy again.

In my first indoor season back, I broke the indoor long jump school record twice, became All-Big 12 in the 60 and long jump, and became an NCAA All-American in long jump. In my first outdoor season back, I have so far broken the school record three times in the long jump, qualified for the Olympic Trials, became the first female at Baylor to win an outdoor title in the women's long jump and jump 22 feet, being named the Big 12 Women's Performer of the Year.

Five years later, I am just now understanding why God made me go through the trials I went through. I will never be able to put into words how grateful I am to be a Baylor Bear. I know I have only been at Baylor for two years, but they have been the best years of my life. I have found my forever home, built long-lasting relationships, found my love for the sport of track and field again, and have built the strongest faith. I want my story to show just how loving and faithful our God truly is. Without his enduring love and mighty grace, I wouldn't be here typing this story and accomplishing the things I have thus far. I'm so blessed that I get the opportunity to come back to Baylor for one more season while also getting my MBA and representing the best school in the nation.

Sic 'Em forever!

Players Mentioned

Alexis Brown

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FACING TRIALS

Players Mentioned

Alexis Brown

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