June Brown put in long hours to reach her ultimate goal.
After emerging as one of the top middle-distance runners in the Lackawanna Track Conference last spring, the Wallenpaupack senior became a college prospect.
Last week, Brown fulfilled her long-term goal by committing to Saint Joseph’s University, an NCAA Division I track and field program in the Atlantic 10 Conference. She plans to study early childhood education with a focus on special education.
“I am very excited,” Brown said. “Saint Joe’s is an amazing school. Over the summer, I visited and talked to the coaches. I loved the school as soon as I set foot on the campus. It’s a great school for academics, and I have the chance to continue my athletic career. In August, the coach contacted me, and I went on my visit and spent the weekend. The team members were awesome, and it was an amazing experience. I made my decision that I wanted to go there, and the coach offered me, and I made my decision.”
As a junior high runner, Brown posted personal records of 2:34.14 in the 800-meter run and 5:58.23 in the 1,600 at the Phil Tochelli Championship meet as a seventh grader. In 2023, she ran a 1:03.89 in the 400.
She moved up to varsity as a freshman. Her 400 personal record improved to 1:03.16. After seeing little improvement in her sophomore season, Brown trained through the winter.
Last season, as a junior, Brown had a strong indoor season. She set personal-best times in the 400 (1:07.10), 800 (2:25.30), and 1,600 (5:38.18), setting the stage for a medal-winning spring outdoors.
Brown won gold in the 800 (2:17.62) at the District 2 Class 3A Championships and the Robert Spagna Championships and Walter Godek Twilight Invitational. She finished 18th in the 800 in 2:16.81.
In the summer, Brown posted a personal-best time of 2:16.21 at the Henderson Last Chance for Nationals Open Meet.
She was an All-Region selection in both cross country and track and field.
Brown, who is again running this fall with the cross country team and finished fourth at the NEPA Invitational at Bloomsburg University.
“For a while through my freshman and sophomore years, I had a mental block and wasn’t competing well or improving,” Brown, 18, said. “It looked like I wasn’t going to be able to compete at a collegiate level. I trained my best in my offseason; I just became dedicated to training, and I had a great junior year. My times were dropping almost every meet. I knew that at that moment I was good enough to compete, so I stayed locked in for the last year and a half, and it paid off for me.”