Sophomore Ke’Mauri Brown has taken the leap as a standout performer for the Oglethorpe County track and field team. He not only ranks among the top of his team in the long jump, but the top of the region.
His best outing came at the Titan Invitational at North Oconee, where he set his personal best at 22-3½, which is the best jump in the region this spring. But he also stands out in the high jump, where has a jump of 5-10 this season.
“I wanted to be top 50 in the state for long jump, and I did that,” said Brown, who was second in the long jump at 21-08 at the Region 5-A Division I meet on April 25.
His athletic career started in middle school, when he met his current coach, Maurice Freeman, who convinced him to try out.
“He told me in seventh grade, come play basketball with him,” Brown said. “I’ve been playing sports ever since then.”
Freeman has seen the growth in Brown.
“The old Ke’Mauri, you’d have to break things down to him so much because he gets distracted a little bit, and he still gets a little distracted, but now he actually wants to pay attention when it's time to pay attention,” Freeman said.
Now only in his second year competing at the high school level, Brown is one of the top performers on his team.
“He’s had a nice big PR this year that definitely is taking him to another level,” Freeman said.
Although Brown has dominated in both the long and high jump, his role is expanding to other events. He’s working on the 200 meters, where Freeman expects him to make significant improvement after only running it once.
“He ran his first 200-meter run last week, and he’s ranked five in the region right now,” Freeman said. “Now, I'm going to put him in the 200 for the rest of the time. Hopefully he can qualify for state.”
Brown was sixth in the 200 with a time of 23.51 at the region meet. Freeman is ready to see what Brown can do before the state meet on May 9-11.
“I want to see him dig down deep and tap into that speed, and definitely do the same thing he's been doing in the long jump,” Freeman said.
Brown feels the same, which is evident by his mindset in every event.
“Kill everybody. That’s my approach,” Brown said. “I ain’t trying to let nobody beat me.”