Faith Carries Tennessee’s Felicia Brown To Breakout Senior Year

Faith is a critical component in any elite athlete’s success.

That conviction can be in the guise of unadulterated confidence like Tennessee coach Tim Hall saw in senior sprinter Felicia Brown during a mid-February media interview.

Just a few days before she was to compete at the Tyson Invitational in the elite section of the 200-meter dash, a reporter asked Brown her goals for the rest of the season. Brown, already a winner over a stacked field in that event at the Conference Clash: Power 5 Invitational earlier in the indoor season, spelled out that she wanted to capture the SEC title and the NCAA crown.

It wasn’t what Brown said that caught Hall’s attention. It was how she said it.

"Listening to her and hearing her own that statement sold me," Hall said. "A lot of athletes can say something like that and not have their words mean something, but the way Felicia said it opened my eyes and I knew we could be onto something special."

Brown backed up her words in a big way.

The senior from Lithonia, Georgia went undefeated the rest of the season in prelims and finals, starting at the Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville, Arkansas and ending at the NCAA Championships in Birmingham, Alabama. Brown scorched the track at the SEC Championships on her way to the third fastest time in collegiate history (22.45) and followed it up with the fourth (22.47) to win her first NCAA title.

March 12 couldn’t have been scripted any better for Brown.

First, her victory completed the only 200-meter sweep in meet history (Brown’s teammate Christian Coleman captured the men’s title).

"Once I saw Christian win, I most definitely knew I had to win," Brown said. "For us to share that moment with each other was amazing."

Secondly, Brown won in front of her family and friends that made the near three-hour drive from the Atlanta area to support her.

"For all of my family — and I mean, all of my family — to see it, made it really, really special," Brown said. "I actually had to ask a few of my teammates for their passes so I could have enough."

If Brown had her choice, that same contingent would also travel to Tuscaloosa, Alabama in mid-May and Eugene, Oregon in early June to see her win the outdoor SEC and NCAA titles, respectively, and break Dawn Sowell’s SEC and collegiate record (22.04) in the process. The senior also has eyes on the SEC meet record of 22.23, set by Texas A&M’s Olivia Ekpone’ two years ago.

Brown knows that if she is to accomplish that next set of goals, she must continue to practice "with intent" and hammer out the final chink in her armor: getting out of the blocks.

"I’m great at getting to full speed and finishing a race, but my starts aren’t where they need to be," Brown said. "I’m getting better, though. Coach Hall always tells us to come to practice with a plan — and right now, that’s my plan."

Hall’s trust in Brown, which grows each day, helps him know that she’ll always focus on the task at hand and attack each prescribed workout with vigor.

Brown’s faith in God allows her to be molded into the breakout star that she is.

"I know why God sent me on this Earth," Brown said. "It’s to worship his name through track."

Brown found her calling at the start of her senior year during a meeting of Athletes in Action with fellow Tennessee athletes. The mission of Athletes in Action, according to their website, is "to help sports-minded people think and live biblically at the intersection of sport and Christianity."

Something, no someone, opened Brown’s eyes.

"Every week other athletes share their testimony and I realized sport isn’t about them: It’s about God," Brown said. "If they figured that out and he could speak to them that way, I just had to listen. We all compete for a reason and now mine is to praise him with each step."