OKLAHOMA CITY (Oct. 9, 2020) – Boise City, with a population of about 1,100, lies in the far western reaches of the Oklahoma Panhandle. About 327 miles from Oklahoma Christian, Boise City also is home to 11-time state champion runner Colten Brown.
 
Brown, a sophomore cross country and track runner at OC, grew up in Boise City, ran his first 5,000-meter race in third grade and began training competitively as an eighth grader. For Brown, running existed as a primary family hobby, which got him interested and excited about the sport.
 
"For me, when you're running, you're testing yourself. There is no luck," Brown said. "It is about what you have. Either you have it that day or you don't. I fell in love with having that raw competitiveness and I'm a shorter guy, so basketball and other sports weren't really for me. I was able to express myself in cross country and track, which is why I started doing it."
 
Growing up in a smaller town and attending a Class A high school, Brown mainly trained by himself, with the help of a few coaches, throughout his career. Brown said the small size of his high school allowed him more one-on-one specific training and the opportunity for a lot encouragement from his coaches, which catapulted him into greatness.
 
"When I started getting competitive, we had a new track coach come in who had run in college, was a really good athlete and really knew what she was doing," Brown said. "For my foundation, from about eighth grade to my sophomore year, I had her to coach and she really did a good job of putting me on the right track.

"She left and we had one of our basketball coaches step up. She did a really good job, but she didn't know specifics. Then, I got in touch with a guy, a chiropractor, who ran in college and competitive marathons. He helped take the next step to running on a higher level. Between them and the basketball coach, we were able to put together a good program."
 
Training on his own and running without a team did not hinder Brown from becoming a champion-level runner. While in high school, Brown won 11 state titles over his four years – two in cross country and nine in track. As a senior, he did not lose a single individual track and field race. While successful in Class A and Class 2A, Brown also competed in bigger races, such as the Meet of Champions, and won, proving his ability to run at a high, competitive level.
 
After witnessing his success across many distances in high school, OC cross country and track coach Wade Miller said he knew Brown had the potential to be a great collegiate runner, so he began recruiting him.

"Colten had a great high school career at a small school in western Oklahoma," Miller said. "He won nine individual state championships, two in cross country and seven across 800 meters, 1,600 meters and 3,200 meters. It was clear he had the ability to compete and win over a wide range of distances. He was also a great student and I felt like his character would be a great fit for Oklahoma Christian and our program."
 
For Brown, the engineering school and Miller's attitude and coaching style persuaded him, but overall the feeling of being wanted – both in engineering and on the cross country team – made OC the right choice for him. Brown said the first OC professor he spoke with was Jeff Bigelow, the program chair for Electrical and Computer Engineering.
 
"He really made me feel very welcomed and wanted here, while at other schools I felt more like a client rather than a friend," Brown said. "The same thing with coach Miller, I felt he would be able to put more into me instead of just being able to focus on a broad-scale team. Coach Miller was also one of the only coaches to come and watch me at the state meets, twice."
 
During his first year at OC, Brown suffered injuries which kept him from fully competing in cross country his freshmen year and the COVID-19 pandemic limited his track experience, as the outdoor season was cancelled. While rehabilitating his injury, Brown said he has learned a lot from Miller about proper intervals of training and how to appropriately balance effort and intensity, which has molded him into a better runner.
 
"Coach Miller does a really good job of getting us to slow down," Brown said. "He says, 'Just look ahead and don't break yourself. Don't go too hard, so you can set yourself up for success.' One of my biggest problems in high school was being too worried about trying to grind everything out immediately and I kept getting injured. His coaching really helped me slow down and build my running better."
 
Miller said pace of practice style has been an area in which he has seen Brown improve in the runner's two years with the Eagles, which has made Brown more successful.

Brown ran in his first meet of the season last Saturday when the Eagles competed in the Oklahoma State Cowboy Jamboree, held on the OSU Cross Country Course, considered one of the nation's toughest. He posted a career-best time for 8,000 meters of 25:49.7, leading the Eagles by finishing 42nd out of 120 runners.

"Colten is really learning how to be consistent and be aware of how he feels within a training cycle," Miller said. "When he is able to apply a large block of consistent training to his toughness and ability to compete, he is really great for our program. He has also been able to apply his ability to be patient and methodical in his racing. He often makes smart choices while racing and is able to run strong at critical points late in races."
 
Aside from coaching, Brown said his favorite part of running in college has been the team aspect. According to Brown, all the OC runners work to set goals, push each other and experience total team success.
 
This past summer, Brown and his teammates lived in a camper and a cabin for two months near Colorado Springs, Colo., to train at high elevation. During this time, Brown also completed a summer class while training. Brown said the mental and physical training the team experienced during those two months bonded them and set them up for future success.
 
"Being together as a team really helped push everyone and kept everyone honest with what they were doing," Brown said. "We stayed in a small pop-up camper, basically a glorified tent, with six guys living in it. We stayed together and we trained really hard. I think we put ourselves in a really good position to really do well this season."