AUSTIN – What began as a goal to hopefully capture the Region I-4A championship ended with the Brownwood Lady Lions being crowned as the best Class 4A track and field program in the state of Texas – a first in school history.

At the UIL Track and Field State Championships Thursday at the University of Texas’ Mike A. Myers Stadium, the Lady Lions continued their trend of finishing first in the team standings in every meet in which the full squad has competed, securing the 4A girls state championship with 64 points, 19 more than runner-up Canyon (45).

“This is the coolest thing I’ve ever experienced,” said Lady Lions track and field head coach Chelsy Lipsey. “We knew that if we did everything right we’d have a shot to try to win this today. It’s just a testament to these girls. They’ve bought in since day one since I’ve been here. Whether it’s the weight room, offseason, the workouts we’re doing, they’re really the best kids ever and I couldn’t be more thankful that I get to be a part of it.”

The Lady Lions were sparked by gold medal efforts from the 4×100 relay team of junior Icess Hall, sophomore Kaya Phillips, junior Jade Morin and junior Aniah Hines, as well as Phillips in the 200 meters, and silver medal performances from the 4×200 relay team of Phillips, Morin, Hines and senior Kate Tindol, and the 4×400 relay of Tindol, Morin, freshman Rebekkah Delgado and senior Braycee Lee – all of which established new school records in Austin.

The Lady Lions sprint relay team was clocked at 47.0 flat, shaving time off the 47.07 school record they set at regionals, and holding off runner-up Celina (47.06). The school record in the 200 meters was 24:11, which Phillips cleared by .36 seconds en route to outdistancing state runner-up Kinlee Lawlis of Bandera (23.94).

“We knew in the 4×1 if we had good hand-offs and got the stick around we had a really good shot to win it. We PR’ed and broke our own school record in that,” Lipsey said. “Then Kaya, she still doesn’t realize the talent that she has. That girl came up on her in the 200, and she found a new gear to go finish it and ran a 23.75, which shattered the school record, which was 24:11. Same thing with her, she puts a lot of work in.”

Hall said of the sprint relay’s championship performance, “It’s been a pretty special year because we have pretty special seniors, and I know we really wanted it for them and for us, too.”

“Getting here, God and our coaches,” Morin said, were the driving forces behind the 4×100, and all three relays in which she is a member, continuously breaking the school record.

“This is something we’ll be able to tell our kids about,” Hines said.

A freshman last spring, Phillips placed eighth at state in the 200 meters.

“It’s a been a little stressful today, but I got through it because of my coaches and my team,” Phillips said after competing in her fourth event of the day. “My goal today in the 200 was first to break the school record, and then make my family proud and my coaches proud. 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.”

The 4×200 relay ran a time of 1:39.14, also a new school record, but finished behind Tyler Chapel Hill (1:38.47), while the 4×400 relay ran its fastest time by six seconds, 3:50.93, and placed behind Canyon, which set a new 4A state meet record (3:48.89).

“The 4×2 we thought we had a good shot to win it, but you can’t ever be upset with the silver medal at state,” Lipsey said. “There’s a lot of people that work really hard and never get a medal here, so I’m still really proud of that. We knew Canyon was going to win the 4×4, we just tried to get a medal. We came into this fifth and took six seconds off of our school record that we had, which was the icing on a cake at the end of the night, getting to see them get a medal in that.”

Tindol said of winning the state championship as a team, “It’s unreal. Braycee and I remember Coach Lipsey came here her first year here and told us that our team goal was to be district champions and we all kind of looked at her like she was crazy. Then our goal this year was to be a regional champions and we end achieving a state championship. It feels so great because this has been great for us, and we love her, but all the praise and honor goes to God.”

Earlier in the day, junior Hannah Deen placed fifth in the high jump with a best effort of 5-4 to pick up two points for the Lady Lions, as she made her second trip to Austin and first since her freshman year. Phillips added an eighth-place effort in the long jump with a best leap of 17-4, while Tindol finished eighth in the 300-meter hurdles as she came in with a time of 46.07.

“I think that shows the type of kids we have and the work they’ve put in,” Lipsey said of the Lady Lions having seven entrants compete at state. “We have athletes here and they know you’ve got to put work in and believe in each other and that showed by being able to finish with a state championship.”

Tindol, Lee and Sidney Windham, who earlier this season set school records in the 3200 and 1600 meters, will graduate later this month, but a solid nucleus is set to return for Brownwood for the 2026 campaign.

“I was in tears before the mile relay just knowing that it was Kate’s and Braycee’s last race,” Lipsey said. “You know both of them and Sidney, she was a part of it even though she didn’t get to run here, but I couldn’t have asked for a better group of kids when I moved here two years ago. To get to coach them and just the leaders they are every day, they come in and work hard and the other girls see that, so I couldn’t be more proud of them. They left their mark on the program. Then those girls that are coming back, I think this is just going to make them even more excited about next year. There’s some big parts of the team that didn’t get to compete here today and they are going to be back hungrier than ever next year.”