Brooklynn Crist displays determination and talent once again, closes track career with three more state titles
LODI, Ohio (BVM) — Brooklynn Crist may have been born different than many, but her athletic ability is greater than most.
Crist was born without a hip joint and with a shortened left femur as a result of Proximal Femoral Focal Deficiency. However, her drive is still greater than many athletes.
“Middle school is when I really realized I was different,” Crist said. “High school was actually really hard too and I got bullied a lot. But sophomore and junior year was really when I decided if they’re going to stare at me, give them something to stare at. That’s kind of the mentality I’ve had with sports. Those years were turning points for me.”
Growing up, Crist was still plenty involved with athletics, whether it was basketball, softball or cheerleading. But the sport that stuck most was sled hockey, and Crist had such a talent that she even made the USA Sled Hockey team.
“My second year of hockey, I tried out for the national team and made the development team,” Crist said. “In the middle of that season, I was brought up to play for the national team so that was pretty awesome. I loved the team aspect of it. In 2018, we went to the Czech Republic in Europe and we beat Canada in the World Cup to win the goal medal.”
Although she is no longer involved with the national team, Crist continues to compete in the sport locally and hopes to continue doing so in the future.
As her sled hockey career continued to take off, the now 18-year-old was looking for a sport to partake in during the offseason to cross train. In eighth grade, she began competing in track and field, and before long, Crist became a star in a new sport.
“During my hockey season, they told me what would be good cross training is track,” Crist said. “I went out for track in eighth grade and ever since, I’ve just fallen in love with it.”
Crist’s main events in seated track are the 100-meter, 400m, 800m and shot put. While she couldn’t love the sport more now, at first, it wasn’t all sunshine and roses.
“In eighth grade, I wasn’t really a fan of track,” Crist explained. “I didn’t really want to do it but I knew it was good cross training and I had so much love for the sport of hockey that I wanted to do anything to better myself for that.”
However, Crist realized an instant talent in the sport. By the end of her eighth grade season, she took home a middle school track state title. The success would carry over into her first season at Cloverleaf High School as well.
“Freshman year I came out with a really big bang which I did not ever dream of doing,” Crist added. “That was when I was like, ‘Wow, I really got to stay with this, I can do this.’ I loved the team aspect, going out and competing, and just paving the way for others.”
As a freshman, Crist earned her first three OHSAA state championships in the 100, 400 and 800m seated races, becoming the first athlete from her high school to do so. The Cloverleaf star didn’t slow down at all in 2019, winning two additional state titles.
“Freshman year was mind-blowing,” Crist said. “It was almost too much for me, because sophomore year I was too confident, especially going into the state meet.”
Still, Crist had earned five titles in just two years. However, her momentum would be stopped when her junior season was canceled in 2020.
“I was planning on junior year being my year,” Crist said. “We were practicing and there were always questions. I remember my mom reading me the email from the school that sports had been canceled and it was much heavier than I had expected. That was the moment where I was like, ‘wow, I really do enjoy this sport and have a love for it.’ I think it was a blessing in disguise but it was absolutely heartbreaking.”
While Crist had to endure the same difficulty as many of her fellow athletes last year, she came back with a vengeance this season.
“I was ecstatic,” Crist said. “This was another year and another chance. We didn’t get back last year, so I wanted to make up for it and came back with a lot of determination.”
At the same time, the senior took a relaxed approach to the season as well, allowing her to enjoy her final year at Cloverleaf. In the end, three more state championships were added to Crist’s resume, as she again won the 100, 400 and 800m events with times of 21.92 seconds, 1 minute, 18.40 seconds and 2:58.86, respectively. Crist won the three races by a combined 44 seconds, and also finished runner-up at state in the shot put.
It was a tremendous close to what has been an incredible high school track career. One of the best parts about it for Crist is just how welcoming the Cloverleaf program has been to her from day one.
“In eighth grade, I met with the coaches and we talked about wheelchair track and they were all on board,” Crist mentioned. “That’s when I knew, if they believe in me, I can do this. Freshman year coming in I was very nervous. We had a seated throwing chair and what my throwing coach did was have all the throwers gather around the chair and watch me throw. Then every one of them got in the chair and tried it too, just to show them that just because I’m disabled and am sitting during practice, I’m not just slacking off, it’s harder than it looks. That was a huge moment for me and I felt so involved.”
Crist’s situation is another prime example of the beauty of inclusivity in sports, whether it is at the adaptive or unified level. The Cloverleaf grad hopes she has played her part in continuing the push for adaptive sports.
“I have a great love for sports,” Crist said. “My parents always told me, ‘I don’t care if you have your leg on or off, you’re going to do stuff on your own.’ They never told me no and I’ve carried that through everything. It is hard to be different and have everyone’s eyes on you, so it makes me really happy just to see how many adaptive athletes are out there competing for their schools.”
Although Crist would have liked to continue with track in college, she preferred to stay home for school, and will attend Cuyahoga Community College (Tri-C) to begin her studies to become a disability advocate. However, that doesn’t mean her track career is over, as she hopes to continue with the sport and just maybe compete at the national level.
“I hope to continue doing track and training,” Crist said. “I hope to possibly one day go to the Paralympics for it, that would be overwhelming.”
Overall, Crist’s story is an inspiration to anyone who comes across it. It will be interesting to see what the future holds for the track star, but for now, she just hopes what she has accomplished can serve as a bit of motivation for others.
“If there was a kid sitting across from me with a disability right now, I would just honestly tell them to do whatever makes them happy,” Crist said. “If they want to do sports, go do sports. You can do anything. You may have to adapt it, but there are good people out there that will work with you. Strive for what you want and don’t let your disability stop your imagination. I hope that my legacy at the high school level is that they see I didn’t let my disability stop me. I did things differently, but I never stopped. Nothing will ever hold you back.”
