Brian Brown (born January 9, 1967) is an American male former

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

athlete who competed in the

high jump The high jump is a track and field event in which competitors must jump unaided over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without dislodging it. In its modern, most-practiced format, a bar is placed between two standards with a crash mat f ...

. His career best was , set in 1990. He was the national champion at the

USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships The USA Track & Field Outdoor Championships is an annual track and field competition organized by USA Track & Field, which serves as the American national championships for the sport. Since the year 1992, in the years which feature a Summer Oly ...

in 1989 and won the NCAA Indoor Division I title in 1990. He competed for the United States three times at world level, at the

1989 IAAF World Cup The 5th IAAF World Cup in Athletics was an international track and field sporting event sponsored by the International Association of Athletics Federations, held on September 8–10, 1989, at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys in Barcelona, Spain. ...

1997 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 6th IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics were held at the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy in Paris, France from March 7 to March 9, 1997. It was the first athletic championships to introduce women's pole vault. There were a total nu ...

and

1999 World Championships in Athletics The 7th World Championships in Athletics, a World Athletic Championships event held under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held at the Estadio Olímpico de Sevilla, Seville, Spain, between the Augus ...

. Brown was a bronze medalist at the

1998 Goodwill Games The 1998 Goodwill Games was the fourth edition of the international sports competition the Goodwill Games, which were created by Ted Turner in reaction to the political troubles surrounding the Olympic Games of the 1980s. The competition was held ...

. After his retirement from the sport he turned to coaching and organization, working at

Drake University Drake University is a private university in Des Moines, Iowa, United States. The University offers over 140 undergraduate and graduate programs, including professional programs in business, education, Legal education, law, and pharmacy. Drake U ...

and the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou or MU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri, United States. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Univers ...

, alongside his wife

Natasha Kaiser-Brown Natasha Kaiser-Brown (born May 14, 1967) is an American sprinter who specialized in the 400 meter run. As of 2022, she is the head coach of track and field at the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri. Kaiser-Brown was born in Des Moine ...

Career

Born in

New Iberia, Louisiana New Iberia (; ) is the largest city in and the parish seat of Iberia Parish, Louisiana, Iberia Parish in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The city of New Iberia is located approximately southeast of Lafayette, Louisiana, Lafayette, and forms part of ...

, Brown attended

New Iberia Senior High School New Iberia Senior High School (NISH) is a public senior high school located at 1301 E. Admiral Doyle Drive in New Iberia, Louisiana, United States. It is in the Iberia Parish School System. It serves New Iberia and Avery Island.Louis, Randy.New ...

and won the high school state championship in the high jump in 1982 and 1983. He went on to study at

Northwestern State University Northwestern State University of Louisiana (NSULA) is a public university primarily situated in Natchitoches, Louisiana, with a nursing campus in Shreveport, Louisiana, Shreveport and general campuses in Leesville, Louisiana, Leesville/Fort Jo ...

in his home state and, with a frame standing he was part of the

Northwestern State Demons The Northwestern State University athletic teams go by the Demons, with women's athletic teams generally called the Lady Demons, and its mascot is Vic the Demon. Once a member of the SIAA conference, the school now competes in the Southland Con ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

and track teams. He competed in the high jump at

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

level from 1987 to 1990. He was fifth outdoors in 1987 before taking third at the 1988 NCAA Indoors. He was fifth at the 1989 NCAA Indoors before winning the 1990 NCAA Men's Division I Championship with a career best jump of . He made his international debut in 1989, but failed to record a valid jump at the

Universiade The FISU World University Games, formerly the Universiade, is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The former name is a Blend word, portmanteau of the wor ...

Duisburg Duisburg (; , ) is a city in the Ruhr metropolitan area of the western States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Lying on the confluence of the Rhine (Lower Rhine) and the Ruhr (river), Ruhr rivers in the center of the Rhine-Ruh ...

.Brian Brown

USA Track and Field USA Track & Field (USATF) is a United States national Sport governing body, governing body for the sports of track and field, cross country running, road running, and racewalking (known as the sport of athletics outside the US). The USATF was kn ...

. Retrieved 2018-02-10. The 1989 season proved to be the peak of Brown's career. He cleared an outdoor personal record of at the 1989 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, beating out Hollis Conway. He was also chosen to represent his country at the

, where he placed sixth. His performances declined after 1990. He managed fifth at the 1992 United States Olympic Trials, but otherwise failed to make the final at the outdoor national championships. A severe injury to the

anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligaments (the other being the posterior cruciate ligament) in the human knee. The two ligaments are called "cruciform" ligaments, as they are arranged in a crossed formation. In ...

in his jumping leg in 1993 paused his career, through he underwent surgery which allowed him to compete again. After a two-year break from competition he returned to better form in 1996, ranking as the sixth best jumper in the nation and placing seventh at the 1996 United States Olympic Trials. Brown made two world teams for the United States in 1997. He passed in

Notre Dame, Indiana Notre Dame is a census-designated place and unincorporated community north of the city of South Bend in St. Joseph County, in the U.S. state of Indiana. It includes the campuses of three colleges: the University of Notre Dame, Saint Mary's Co ...

in February and third place at the

USA Indoor Track and Field Championships The USA Indoor Track and Field Championships is an annual indoor track and field competition organized by USA Track & Field, which serves as the American national championships for the sport. In years which feature a World Indoor Championships i ...

earned him selection for the

(he was eliminated in the

qualifying round Qualification may refer to: Processes * Qualifications-Based Selection (QBS), a competitive contract procurement process established by the United States Congress * Process qualification, ensures that manufacturing and production processes can ...

there). He cleared 2.31 m again outdoors, this time in

Des Moines, Iowa Des Moines is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Iowa, most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is the county seat of Polk County, Iowa, Polk County with parts extending into Warren County, Iowa, Wa ...

, and was again third place nationally, behind Charles Austin and Randy Jenkins at the 1997 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. His was selected for the

1997 World Championships in Athletics The 6th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the World Athletics, International Amateur Athletic Federation, were held at the Olympic Stadium (Athens), Olympic Stadium, Athens, Greece between 1 and 10 August 1997. In this event ...

as a result, though again he would not progress to the World Championships high jump final. He ranked eleventh in the world on height that year.Brian Brown
Track and Field Statistics. Retrieved 2018-02-10. One more successful year followed. In 1998 he was runner-up at the USA Indoors, then third at the 1998 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, tying with Hollis Conway. He represented the United States at the

and took the sole international medal of his career – a bronze – behind world record holder

Javier Sotomayor Javier Sotomayor Sanabria (; born 13 October 1967) is a Cuban former track and field athlete who specialized in the high jump and is the current Men's high jump world record progression, world record holder. The 1992 Summer Olympics, 1992 Olymp ...

and teammate Charles Austin. His best mark of the year was , which he achieved at the

Weltklasse Zürich Weltklasse Zürich () is an annual, invitation-only, world-class track and field meeting at the Letzigrund in Zürich, Switzerland, generally held at the end of August or beginning of September. Previously one of the IAAF Golden League events, it ...

meet, placed him in the top 25 globally. He tried to continue competing, but after best jumps of the in the 1999 and 2000 seasons, he retired from the sport. He married fellow American track athlete

and the pair worked together as college athletic coach staff at

. Brown was the organiser of the

Drake Relays The Drake Relays is an outdoor track and field event held in Des Moines, Iowa, Des Moines, Iowa, in Drake Stadium (Drake University), Drake Stadium on the campus of Drake University. Billed as ''America's Athletic Classic'', it is regarded as one ...

meet for eleven years before leaving in 2016 to be assistant athletic director at the

. During his tenure as Drake Relays organiser, he attracted world class level track athletes to compete at the nominally college meet and raised funds through corporate sponsorship with

Hy-Vee Hy-Vee, Inc. (), is an employee-owned chain of supermarkets in the Midwestern and Southern United States, with more than 280 locations in Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota, Wisconsin, with stores planned in ...

. Brown earned his masters and doctorate at Missouri, and his daughter Elle Brown attends the college and is a member of the basketball team. Drake's Brian, Natasha Brown leave for Missouri
''Des Moines Register'' (2016-08-04). Retrieved 2018-02-10.

International competitions

National titles

**High jump: 1989

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Brian Living people 1967 births Sportspeople from New Iberia, Louisiana Track and field athletes from Louisiana American male high jumpers World Athletics Championships athletes for the United States Northwestern State Demons track and field athletes African-American track and field athletes American track and field coaches Drake Bulldogs track and field coaches Missouri Tigers athletic directors Goodwill Games medalists in athletics Competitors at the 1998 Goodwill Games 21st-century African-American sportsmen 21st-century American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships winners

Career

International competitions

National titles

See also

References

External links