Mac Huffman

Brinker takes a lap around the track to warm up for her workout. She had just begun working out with her team after a short break preceding the off-season. “I just started working out two weeks ago, but when I was on my break, I realized how much I missed running,” Delaney said. “Like, wow, that was such a big part of me.” (Photo illustration by Mac Huffman and Vincent Hsiao)

As she pulled up to track and field tryouts her freshman year, Delaney Brinker (11) had little on her mind. It wasn’t until the soles of her cleats met the track that it became clear to her that she had made the right choice. Coaches and runners watched in awe as her legs carried her around the path, and Delaney realized this was much more than just a recreational pursuit.

Delaney joined track and field on a whim her freshman year, convinced that it would be a more laid back addition to her rigorous gymnastics schedule. She had no idea that this undertaking would carry her towards new volumes of success – including five state titles, two national titles and many more to come – and become a significant part of her life and identity.

“Running is a way to escape reality,” Delaney said. “People always say that, [and] I think that it’s definitely true. It takes your mind off something if you’re having trouble.”

It took time for Delaney to achieve this mindset. During the early stages of her track career, she underestimated her natural talent.

“From practice, I couldn’t really tell how good I was,” Delaney said. “My first meet was a varsity meet and I went into it thinking, ‘Why did he put me into a varsity meet when I’ve never ran before?’ I remember doing really well and once I did good, after that I was like ‘Oh, wow.’”

Prior to her full commitment to track and field, Delaney had been a gymnast for over a decade of her life. She never saw track as competition  to gymnastics until it became difficult to balance both sports at once.

“[When I began track], I did running all year round and gymnastics all year round, so it was hard to juggle both of them,” Delaney said. “That was one of the main reasons why I quit gymnastics. My body was so tired.”

However her decision stems a different perspective from her twin sister, Zoey Brinker. Delaney and Zoey’s inseperable relationship was strengthened by gymnastics, so much so that they developed the goal of attending the same college. 

 “It is a little scary for me because I don’t want to hold her back from going to a college just because we want to go to college together,” Zoey said. “But we’re all really proud of her for everything that she’s done, even though we used to spend a lot of time doing gymnastics together [and] now we’re not doing that.”

While Delaney often finds herself missing her other half, she has found a sense of community among her teammates. Their mutual encouragement pushes her to constantly strive for improvement.

“As much of an individual sport as it is, it’s so much more of a team sport, and you rely on others to push you and to cheer you on,” Delaney said.

Track became much more important to Delaney than she had originally intended. Her understanding of how to further progress has impressed her coach, Nick Buckvar, from the beginning.

“She’s certainly a leader and a pillar of what our program is about,” Buckvar said. “Her work ethic is superb. She understands that all she needs to do is what is prescribed in practice and she trusts that.”

From a collegiate perspective, Delaney is just the kind of athlete that recruiters are looking for, hence the multiple Division I schools that are interested in her. Buckvar admires the drive that Delaney possesses during practice and meets, and believes it will carry her far.

“Her eyes have been opened to the opportunities that [track] can provide for her as well as what her abilities are,” Buckvar said.