BOZEMAN — Weston Brown does it all — he's a star runner, star student and star member of the community. And the most impressive part of it all, this past fall was his first season of cross country. Brown has a strong track background, but his first three fall seasons in high school were spent playing soccer. The switch was flawless, and Gatorade Player of the Year was the final accolade to an incredible cross country resume.
“It’s a great award, and it’s an exclusive group of guys who’ve won the award, not just in cross country but in every sport, so it’s good to join that group of athletes. And, it was one of my goals at the start of the season, so it feels good to accomplish that.”
His favorite race all season was States; the win solidified an undefeated against all runners in Montana. He then went on to finish second at the NXR Northwest Regional Championships and finish eighth at the Nike Cross Nationals. Bozeman High cross country head coach, Casey Jermyn, has coached a handful of Gatorade Players of Year; and Brown falls into the category of elite runners he’s had the pleasure of working with.
“With him, he’s very self-motivated. Obviously, a lot of those guys who reach that top level it’s not a lot of pushing and pulling to get them to do anything, it’s more pulling the reigns back if anything. So, he falls a lot into that category.”
What's even more impressive than his running, Brown is able to balance being the top runner in the state with maintaining a 4.1 GPA and being president of the DECA club at Bozeman High. His drive aligns with that of the athlete he looks up to most, Michael Jordan. Not just for the moments that made Jordan the best in the game, but for everything that led up to them.
“When you think of him, you think of the flu game and the shot in the Finals, but I feel like people just think of those, but they don’t see the work they put in. I think that I more admire the work than those moments. I more admire how hard he worked.”
Brown now looks ahead to the spring season, one where can, "hopefully run fast on the track." Running fast is a guarantee.
