Athlete of the Week: Crystal Springs’ Kaiya Brooks

That changed last week, though, as Brooks embarked on the final postseason of her high school career in style. The senior claimed the West Bay Athletic League girls’ individual championship in stunning fashion on the 2.95-mile course at Crystal Springs Cross Country Course, hitting the tape in 17 minutes, 26.6 seconds.

“I’ve been feeling better and better each race,” Brooks said. “And I guess I was just excited to go in there and see what happens.”

Her winning time made her a lock as Daily Journal Athlete of the Week.

Not only was it a personal record for Brooks on her home course, the senior finished over 1 minute, 20 seconds ahead of Castilleja junior Perry McElhinney’s second-place time of 18:46.7. In the context of history, Brooks’ performance ties her for the 46th best time on the modern course at Crystal, a history dating back to 1971.

“I was really happy,” Brooks said. “I knew I wanted to be the best at the end of the season … so I really wanted to see what would happen. And I was really happy when I saw my time.”

Brooks has plenty to be happy about this season. In September, the small-school standout jumped decided to run at a big-time college, committing to Harvard University, where she will run both cross country and track.

Until last Friday’s performance in the WBAL championships, however, she hadn’t had a noteworthy performance at Crystal Springs Cross Country Course since her CCS championship run as a freshman. It was a promising start to her varsity career, especially after a smashing podium finish at the CIF state cross country meet, where she took fourth place for Division V.

Things quickly disintegrated from there. Just two meets into her freshman track season, the world was halted by the COVID pandemic. The lost freshman track season obviously wasn’t unique to Brooks. But then, growing pains derailed her sophomore cross-country season as the knee pain from Osgood-Schlatter disease was too much to bear.

“Your knees are just aching,” Crystal Springs head coach Albert Caruana said. “Especially for kids that grow a lot over a short period of time … the knees are aching. So, her sophomore year she pretty much didn’t run.”

But the decision for the sophomore to shut it down was a tactical one.

“Just like in a race, you want to be patient,” Caruana said. “A lot of coaches get someone of her caliber, and they just want to race and race them, and with her we definitely took the patient approach.”

The patient approach continued through her junior year, as Brooks did not win a single cross-country race. Her best finish showed a glimmer of promise, however, as she took second place at the CCS Division V championships. But Brooks continued plugging away, trying to regain her form, and come her junior track season began turning the corner.

During the regular season, Brooks knocked out a personal record in the 1,600 meters of 4:53.10. Then at the CCS championships, she PR’ed in the 3,200 with a 10:23.66, good for second place and a trip to the state championships.

“I think last year in track … she ran 4:53 and 10:23, and those are pretty spectacular times,” Caruana said. “So, I think that’s where she started to show what she could do as a runner.”

Now, Brooks is running like there was never any doubt. Her separation from the pack midway through the WBAL championships was testament to that. As if setting the pace through the first half of the race wasn’t enough, Brooks came alive on the back half of the course, the first time she’s pushed herself to the max since her freshman year.

“That’s when I broke away from the rest of the pack and, from that moment, I was just trying to push myself and see what I could do and make it hurt,” Brooks said.

By the time Brooks finished the race, there was no one, absolutely no one, in her rearview mirror. And, with the CCS championships coming up Saturday, and the state championships two weeks away, the senior is just getting warmed up for what promises to be an epic swan song.

Stay tuned.