Brynn Brown's XC Season Could Be Over Due To Stress Reaction

* Brynn Brown competes at the Southlake Invitational

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Denton Guyer junior Brynn Brown recently received news she did not want to hear. The remainder of her 2019 cross country season is in doubt due to an injury, as she recently shared on her Instagram account.

Brown, who owns a US No. 1 time of 16:12.00 in the 5K, said she now is suffering from a stress reaction in her metatarsals, which happened when she went on a long run this past Sunday, she told MileSplit TX.

"I was mad and couldn't understand after all of the hard work I put in to the season that this could be happening," Brown said.

Sundays are usually days off from running for Brown. However, taking the SAT on Saturday and not competing led to the decision to get a run in the following day. "I was on a long run and stepped on a rock kinda of weird and felt a pop, and afterwards, I couldn't walk."

The junior is considered the favorite to win the UIL 6A state cross country championship, which would be her first.

Brown's most recent performances have yielded two sub 17 minute races. One was a No. 2 all-time 5,000m mark of 16:12 from the MileSplit TX XC Invitational hosted meet, and her most recent was a 16:57 from the McNeil Invite.

So, what does this mean for Brown?

Brown's season could very well be over. The stress reaction is being treated as a stress fracture, which could mean at minimum, time off will heal her foot. "The doctor said I have three scenarios. The best case scenario is that it's not too bad and I'll be missing the district meet, but I could return for Regionals if my team makes it and if my doctor clears me. The next best scenario, I could miss the rest of the UIL season altogether to ensure I get the time to heal, but I could still return for NXR South. The worst case scenario, I would have to shut things down for the rest of the cross country season."

"I'm happy now, I've had my fair share of being angry at this, I'm taking lessons away from it and I'm going to use this as something that I learn from and can go back to later and use it. I'd rather it happen now rather than my senior year or when I was in the NCAA."

Brown was considered one of the few athletes to have any kind of shot to contend with Katelyn Tuohy (NY), who is perhaps the best girls U.S. high school distance runner ever.