On Saturday, July 9th, 54 Brownwood students between the ages of 5 and 17 beat the heat to compete at the Texas Amateur Athletics Federation (TAAF) track and field meet. Students have been training for five weeks in preparation for the competition, working three days each week to learn technique, endurance, and skill. All Brownwood students were invited to participate in the training and competition, and “for a lot of the younger kids it was their first time to compete in a real track meet,” Hood said. Brownwood’s participation was over twice that of last year’s, and parents, trainers, coaches, and students filled Gordon Wood Stadium, earning medals and awards in the sunny, 100 degree heat.

TAAF is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the development of physical education for amateur athletes; Brownwood is associated with Region 8, which includes Abilene, Wichita Falls, and “all the towns in between,” Coach Don Hood explained. The location of the competition rotates every year between Brownwood, Abilene, and Wichita Falls.

“I was very pleased with the way our kids competed,” Hood said. “We earned quite a few medals and qualified almost twice as many for State than we did last year,” Hood said. The state competition will be held July 28th at Baylor University in Waco.

Pictured: BHS Track Coach Reagan Berry gives a Cisco student a high five after finishing a race.