TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) — Maclay's Jay Brown made his name known across the running world fairly quickly after he picked up cross country in ninth grade.
He didn't get to close things out as a Marauder the way he wanted to, but he's got a lot to look forward to life as a Florida State Seminole.
Jay Brown didn't always know it, but he was supposed to be a distance runner. His first love was baseball.
"It's super special to come out here and show Tallahassee and the surrounding areas what I have to do," said Brown.
Brown will wear garnet and gold at Florida State, competing for the Seminoles in Cross Country and Track.
"I'm super excited," Brown said.
It's a future he's excited about, made possible by a stellar past at Maclay. Two gold medals in the 800 and 1600, two gold medals he didn't get to defend in his senior season.
"Pretty disappointing," said Brown. "I definitely wanted to go out and show everybody what I could do. I had a lot of confidence going into this track season so not being able to do that was pretty tough."
Tough, but Brown is savoring the chaos, a Maclay motto which rings true now more than ever.
"It's good to have that mentality in the back of your head always because you never know what's going to happen," Brown said.
Now, he's ready for anything and trying to stay positive through it all.
"This probably could be something good for later down the road," said Brown. "Maybe not running so much this year could help me later when I'm trying to run later in my career. That's life. It doesn't always go your way."
Sometimes things do go your way, like turning a new sport into a scholarship for your hometown team.
Brown said he wants to study exercise physiology in college, one day becoming an athletic trainer.
