Brayden Staley '27 Recruiting Profile

My name is Brayden, and my goal is to run in college. I joined the cross-country team in middle school and wasn't very good. I usually finished my mile in about 8 minutes. I went on that spring to track and struggled. At that point, I decided to join the competition team to get better because I really liked the sport. Once I learned about the Junior Olympic Games, I made that my goal. During the summer before my 8th grade year, I really struggled and didn't do well. But, I never gave up. I also learned that I had been running for with Ashma. After many doctors' appointments and inhalers, I started my 8th grade cross country season running the 2 miles, my PR that year was around around 13 mins., I went out from track in the spring and started beating everyone in multiple events like I never had before. My first meet of my 8th grade year, I won with a time of 5:58. Something my mom thought was incredible at the time. I ran the 800 in 2:30 and the 400 in 1:08. What she didn't know is that in 6 weeks, I would go on to not only win my 8th conference in the 1600, but break school records. I put mind to it and improved my time by over 30 seconds and ran the 1600 in 5:23. By the end of the season, my 800 was 2:18, and my 400 under a min flat. That summer I did go to achieve my goal of running in the junior Olympic games. I competed in the 2000m steeplechase. Something I could only train with hurdles for, and managed to qualify for in the 15–16-year-old division by virtue of my birth year while only being 14. 

I went from a 7th grader who was told by doctors I would never be able to run. To an 8th grader breaking school records and winning conference championships. I am pushing myself to the limit every single day to achieve my dream of being a college runner, and I know that is why I would be a good candidate for any school.