The warm Orlando sun beamed down on the podium of the AAU Club Championship for track and field. The award ceremony for the 1500 meter was about to begin. Two strangers stood next to each other as the redheaded fifth grader began to make conversation with her neighbor.
“Hey, are you from Texas?” she asked.
The brunette fifth grader responded that she was and the two discovered they lived a mere 28 miles away from each other.
At the end of sixth grade, the redhead joined Lake Cities Cross Country Club, the same team the brunette was a part of. Since so much time had passed, the girls did not realize they had met before in Florida. It wasn’t until they found a picture from that day on the podium that the girls realized they’d been running together for longer than they originally thought.
Before the pair’s freshman year, the redhead, Maddy Reed, moved from her home in Arlington to Flower Mound and would now attend the same high school as Payton Brown, running for the same team once again.
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Now seniors, Maddy and Payton sat next to each other in the MAC anxiously awaiting to place their signatures on contracts before them. The girls were surrounded by their friends, family and coaches that have supported them throughout the years to get to where they are today.
It is unusual to have two members of the same high school team commit to the same university, but on Nov. 11, Maddy and Payton devoted their talent of running to the University of Arkansas.
According to the girls, they never expected to end up running at the same college but now that they have, Maddy and Payton plan to be roommates in the athletic dorm next year. By the time they graduate from college, they will have been teammates and friends for over ten years.
Prior to making the decision to spend her next four years in Fayetteville, Maddy spent last summer visiting multiple schools across the country with her father.
“I went to keep my options open and make sure I didn’t narrow down my options too fast, but it narrowed down to Arkansas and I’m really happy about that,” Maddy said.
For Payton, the decision came a little easier. She considered Texas A&M but discovered she liked Arkansas’ program and coach more, plus her sister and 2014 graduate, Sydney Brown also runs for The University of Arkansas.
“I would go up and visit [Sydney] and I immediately just loved the campus and everything,” Payton said.
The girls will have two other familiar faces on campus next year besides Sydney. Their former teammate and 2015 graduate Emily Jeacock and 2015 Flower Mound graduate Safee Belbina are a part of the Razorback family as well.
Though the girls are excited to run for such a successful program, nerves always settle in when it comes to joining a new team.
“Everyone wants to be on the National Championship team and wants to help the team,” Maddy said. “But it’s also scary knowing that there are that many girls on the team that are already that good.”
Despite being nervous about their talent and what they’ll be able to contribute to the team next year, the girls have seen firsthand how college running helps them become better athletes.
“Everyone that goes to college to run, they improve so much,” Payton said. “Every college person that has come back to visit us has been so much faster.”
One of the main reasons college athletes improve so quickly is due to the coaching staff and it is evident that Arkansas has a winning coach. Head women’s cross country coach, Lance Harter has been named SEC Coach of the Year 24 times, the National Coach of the Year four times and has already been admitted into the USTFCCCA Coaches Hall of Fame. Since they have committed, both girls have kept in contact with Harter on a regular basis.
“After most of the bigger races he’ll call us and say, ‘hey good job’ and after state he told us congrats and everything and he will ask us how the race went,” Payton said.
According to Harter, both Maddy and Payton possess the qualities he and the University of Arkansas looks for when it comes to recruits.
“We look for great character and passion and motivation for the sport,” Harter said. “Both [Maddy and Payton] have those assets.”
Rather just having input on opinion about recruits from the coaching staff, Harter said that he gets the whole team involved. He lets the current runners decide whether they like the recruits and if they would be a good for the team.
“Our team was unanimous in evaluation of those two individuals,” Harter said “We are so excited to have them as Razorbacks.”
