In early October Tori Polk, a professional world-class track and field athlete, visited Brownwood ISD campuses and spoke to girls from 5th to 12th grade.  Polk presented an inspiring message to the students as she spoke about her career and setting and reaching goals.

“I’ve known Tori for about 10 years,” said Coach Don Hood who helped to coordinate Polk’s visit. “She’s a quality person with a great story about perseverance and focus and belief in herself and her abilities.”

According to a biography provided to the school, Polk is a professional track and field athlete specializing in the Long Jump.  The biography included the following short description of Polk and her achievements:

“Polk is a Waco, Texas native and graduate of Texas Tech University. Along with being a self-coached athlete she is a 3x World Championship Qualifier, 2x World Championship Finalist, 1x US National Champion, 1x US National Silver Medalist, 1x Olympic Trials Finalist, 1x Pan American Games Finalist. Defined as the “Lady of Long Jump” she remains a competitive and dedicated student of the sport, setting the tone as a long-standing veteran within the women’s Long Jump.”

Polk’s message to the students included details of her training, and becoming interested in her sport, as well as some question and answer time where students were able to ask specific questions.

“Tori showed them that dreams start early in life and that the pursuit of those dreams is worth the effort,” said Hood. “She talked about overcoming adversity and disappointment.   Every girl needs to know that her dreams are important and that she should value the abilities God has given her.”