​Brownwood Independent School District (BISD) is thrilled to announce a celebratory parade for the 2025 Brownwood Lady Lions Track and Field Team, who made history by winning the UIL Class 4A State Championship. This marks the first-ever state title for the Lady Lions program and the first for any Brownwood High School team since 1986.
 
The community is invited to join us in honoring our State Champions on Monday, May 19, 2025. The team will board a bus at 6:00 PM in front of Brownwood High School (BHS) and proceed along a short parade route to the BISD Central Support Center. The parade route will begin at the BHS circle drive, turn left onto Slayden St., left onto 10th St., left onto Good Shepherd Dr., right onto Greenway St., and conclude at the BISD Central Support Center parking lot.
 
We encourage the Brownwood community to line the parade route, cheer on our Lady Lions, and celebrate this historic achievement. A map of the parade route is included below.

​“A great teacher sees potential in a young learner even when they don’t see it themselves,” (Teachers of Tomorrow). Brownwood High School (BHS) freshman Kaya Phillips began the 2023 school year as a regular Physical Education student, enrolled in a regular biology class. Her teacher, Chelsy Lipsey, also the head BHS Lady Lions Track and Cross Country coach, engaged her in conversation regarding her recent move to the new town and new school. “We were discussing athletics one day in my biology class, and I asked her if she had ever done any sports before,” Lipsey said. “She told me she had run track when she was in junior high at her previous school. I asked her what events she had done, and she said she would like to do it again.” BHS students have many opportunities for electives when it comes to physical education; students may choose either PE, tennis, or athletics, where athletics students prioritize at least one specific sport in which to excel. Sports for girls include cross country, volleyball, basketball, powerlifting, softball, tennis, soccer, and track and field. ‘Track and field’ consists of a wide variety of events, such as relays, long jump, high jump, 50-100-200-400-meter dash races, 1600-and 3200-meter runs, discus, shot put, pole vault, and more.

Phillips had previously enjoyed relays and long jump. Lipsey worked with Phillips, contacting her advisor, and they changed her schedule that very day. “She was in PE at the beginning of her freshman year at her previous school, so when she enrolled here in the middle of the fall of her freshman year, they just put her in PE. She has been a crucial part of the success we have had the last two seasons.”
 
In joining the athletics students, Philips began practicing with the track team and went on to compete at the UIL State level. When the 2024-25 school year came around, Phillips and several other strong Lady Lion athletes literally raced toward new goals. “She runs the 200m dash, 4X100 relay, 4X200 relay, and long jump,” Lipsey said. “She has qualified at the State meet in all four of those events this season. And most importantly, she has grown and matured, and is starting to understand how talented she is and what she can accomplish when she sets her mind to something.” The Lady Lions track team qualified in sixteen events at the UIL Track and Field 4A State Championships, held in Austin at the University of Texas Mike A. Myers Stadium. By the end of the event, the team earned sixty-four points and medaled in several events, setting a new record for their school as State Champions. In comparison, the second-place team, Canyon High School, earned forty-five points.
 
Phillips placed first in the 200-meter dash as well as the 4x100 relay with her teammates Icess Hall, Jade Morin, and Aniah Hines. Phillips, Morin, Hines, and Kate Tindol earned the second-place silver medal for the 4x200 relay. The 4x400 relay team of Tindol, Morin, Rebekkah Delgado, and Braycee Lee also earned second place. All of these races set new speed records for the school. For example, the 200-meter race’s previous record for BHS was 24:11; Phillips’ time was 23:75. “My goal in the 200 was first to break the school record, and then make my family proud, and my coaches proud,” said Phillips in an article featured on BrownwoodNews.com. “It means a lot to go from coming in last place last year, to coming in first this year. I plan to go to college in this, so I have a lot more I want to do.”
 
With record-breaking times in ten events, the team accomplished their goal of becoming district champions, and then some. The team State Championship is the first for a Brownwood girls’ program in school history; it is also the first State title for any BHS team since 1986.

​The success of these Lady Lions has brought the community together. The Lady Lions softball team cheered them on via livestream as they prepared for their own Region game, which they also won. Several businesses around town have updated their street signs to congratulate the team. A celebration honoring their accomplishments was held on Wednesday, May 7, in the Warren Gym, where Assistant Superintendent and Athletic Director Mitch Moore highlighted and acknowledged the athletes. He highlighted this season’s dominating record of first-place triumphs by both the Varsity and Junior Varsity teams. Varsity won first place at every meet they attended this season; JV won five out of six meets. “It’s really a special thing when you have a team where everyone believes in each other and supports each other, and that is what makes this team so special,” Lipsey said at the pep rally. “They have so much talent, and there is not an ounce of selfishness among them. They are the best girls with the best hearts, and I am so grateful to be their coach. I really feel like I am the luckiest coach in the world to have you girls in my life, and as awesome as winning the state championship is, the relationships that we built will always mean so much more to me. I love y’all and am so proud of you.”
 
“The athletic program benefits our students tremendously by helping them learn to work hard for something, and helps them to learn accountability, both of which will be useful for whatever they choose to do in the future and help them be prepared for whatever comes their way in life,” Lipsey said. Lipsey is in her second year as the head Track and Field and Cross Country coach at BHS. In another article from Brownwood News, she stated, “Cross country is a huge team sport, and you have to run for each other, but you have to make it fun, too.” Lipsey has spent intentional time building and uniting the team, training them on the field and in the weightlifting room to be champions. This includes the essential elements of belonging and friendship. “The relationships you build with your teammates are so special and something that you will always hold onto even when you go your separate ways after graduation. When you enjoy it, you’ll run harder for each other and your coach, and that’s what we’re going to do here.”

Article by: Sara Musgrove
Photos: BHS Media Crew & BrownwoodNews.com