Name: Michelle Brown
Date of birth: Sept. 20, 1993
School: Travelers Rest
Person most admire: Cecilia Brown
Coach: John King
Personal bests: 22:45
Typical training week: Everyday except Sunday.
Any other interesting notes:
*We can't tell ourselves apart in baby pictures, we have to ask our parents whose who.
*We are the youngest of 7. We have a mom (Rita), dad (Mike), two sisters (Kim and Gina), and one brother (Ray).
scrunners: What made you decide to run cross country?
michelle: My friend Mary Miles Fewell, Travelers Rest girls cross country team's best runner had told me about it and had told Coach King about my twin and I so we decided to give it a try. We started by going to summer conditioning to see how we liked it and once we got in the hang of it we started to enjoy it.
scrunners: What do you remember from your first race?
michelle: I remember being super nervous at this Cleveland Park preseason region meet. I thought I was going to be sick and I was a little bit shaky.
scrunners: Did you both decide to run at the same time?
michelle: Yes we did. We both talked about doing it and decided to give it a try.
scrunners: How has it been to have a twin on the team?
michelle: It is fun! I am so used to having her with me all the time anyways so it would be weird if she wasn't. I enjoy having my twin/best friend running with me!
scrunners: Do you seeing having a twin on the team helping your running?
michelle: I think it makes our team closer. With Cecilia and me being twins and Donna Lynn and Mary being sisters, that is four girls on our varsity that have family on the team.
scrunners: What has been your biggest challenge with a twin on the team?
michelle: My biggest challenge with her being on the team is dealing with the pressure to beat her. I love her but I gotta run faster.. haha.
scrunners: Do you have a specific tradition prior to a race?
michelle: We both tend to sleep on the way to meets if the boys aren't being to loud. Our girls team says a team prayer before every meet.
scrunners: Do you see you two going to the same college?
michelle: Well, to be honest I have no clue what I want to be when I grow up, so I am not too sure. I hope so because I don't think I could deal with her living somewhere else. We have only been apart from each other several hours at a time...no long periods of time. We have also only been to separate friends house once and we didn't like it at all.
scrunners: How will you adapt to college with or without your twin?
michelle: I think that would take a long time. I am so used to being with her 24/7. She is like my other half. I think one of us would end up transferring to the other ones school before we even started classes.
scrunners: How does your coach tell you two apart (if relates to you)?
michelle: My coach usually can't tell us apart. He tries to guess but always tends to have it backwards. We don't mind this at all... we get it all the time. We are so used to being called twin or by the other one's name.
scrunners: Do you have any other family members that run?
michelle: No, I do not have any other family members that run.
scrunners: What do you think it takes to be a cross country runner?
michelle: To be a cross country runner, I think it takes patience, commitment, love for running, a good personallity, social skills, time commitment, friendliness, and a good support system behind you.
scrunners: What do you want to achieve the rest of this season and the future?
michelle: I want to get better times as I progress and I really want our team to make it to State!
Name: Cecilia Brown
Date of birth: Sept. 20, 1993
School: Travelers Rest
Person most admire: Michelle Brown
Coach: Coach King (John King)
Typical training week: Monday-Saturday.
Any other interesting notes: I'm second youngest in a family of seven.
scrunners: What made you decide to run cross country?
cecilia: Some of my friends already ran for Travelers Rest High School and told me a little bit about it. Also, our awesome coach; Coach King had been hoping my twin and I would run since seventh grade and we just thought it'd be a fun sport that would be something new for us, so we decided to give it a shot.
scrunners: What do you remember from your first race?
cecilia: I remember I thought I wasn't going to be able to finish the race and that I was just going to get sick in the middle of the race right then and there, but thankfully I didn't. At the starting line, I remember being really nervous. My best friend since I was five years old, Mace Wilklow, attends Wade Hampton High School(unfortunately) and runs cross country for them. I ran almost the whole second half of my first race right beside her and at the end beat her barely by one second. (She's gotten ahead of me at other races though.)We both enjoyed being able to run together for ours first meet.
scrunners: Did you both decide to run at the same time?
cecilia: Yes, we both decided to run at the same time, what can we say, great minds think alike.
scrunners: How has it been to have a twin on the team?
cecilia: It has been great having my twin on the team. We have always been on the same teams all through our lives. We encourage and help each other to keep trying and to do our best. At practice we have fun together, laugh together, and enjoy running together.
scrunners: Do you seeing having a twin on the team helping your running?
cecilia: Yes, having Michelle on the team helps me with my running. Michelle's faster than me, so parents on the sides at meets always say,"catch up with your twin!" or other things like this. It helps me pick up my pace and encourages me to try harder, even if I haven't quite caught her yet. But we encourage each other and always wish each other a good race.
scrunners: What has been your biggest challenge with a twin on the team?
cecilia: None.
scrunners: Do you have a specific tradition prior to a race?
cecilia: Michelle and I both try to sleep on the bus if the boys aren't singing but usually are kept awake, we say a team prayer before every meet, and our family always eats Italian for dinner the night before every meet.
scrunners: Do you see you two going to the same college?
cecilia: We aren't sure where we'd like to go yet. But, if it is to two different colleges it will be really difficult not having her around all the time. We've only been to different friends houses once and it was for an English project. We are always together, have always had the same friends, and when someone invites us over, they have never just invited one of us. We would love to go to the same college but it will all depend on what we want to be when we get older.
scrunners: How will you adapt to college with or without your twin?
cecilia: Well, without her it'd be really hard and we would definitely miss each other a lot. We'd talk on the phone everyday, keep in touch, and visit each other as much as we could. If we went to the same college we probably wouldn't room together so we could be more independent from each other but we'd still stay close. We'll always be each other's best friends no matter what.
scrunners: How does your coach tell you two apart (if relates to you)?
cecilia: From what I know, Coach King tells us apart by several things. After our second meet, I sprained my ankle and tore two ligaments so recently I've been wrapping it when I run, since it's been recovering. I think he could use that as one way to tell us apart but now that the trainer says I don't need to wear any wrap because my ankle is better, Coach King will have to find another way to figure out who's who. Michelle wears two knee straps/bands, and this is definitely one way he tells us apart. King sometimes calls us Brown or twin, just like everyone else we know, and it doesn't bother us. He can sort of tell us apart by how we look but also our personalities. I think the farther we've gotten into the season, the more he can tell the difference between us.
scrunners: Do you have any other family members that run?
cecilia: I have two older sisters, Kim is twenty four and Gina is nineteen, they both ran cross country for Travelers Rest for one season each. Also, my older brother Ray ran hurdles for the track team for Travelers Rest.
scrunners: What do you think it takes to be a cross country runner?
cecilia: Eating and drinking healthy things, sleep, practice, and have the ability to enjoy yourself with your team and have fun.
scrunners: What do you want to achieve the rest of this season and the future?
cecilia: I really hope our Cross Country team makes it to state this year!