Riley Brame is a sponge that soaks in experiences and mentorships and then releases those to other people once the sponge is squeezed.
It’s that absorption of everything that has made the Trigg County High School senior a success on the track and in the classroom.
Riley ran her first race for Trigg County in the fourth grade. She ran a mile in 8:14 and finished in 16th place. It was a respectable finish given her age.
She began hurdling in the fifth grade, competing in middle school competitions in the 100 and 300-meter hurdles, bagging a first-place finish the first time she broke a minute in the 300 meters.
Her tall, lanky frame made her a natural for cross country. In the 8th grade, she finished in eighth place at the region cross country meet and qualified for the state meet where she ran a personal best time and finished in 64th place.
After qualifying for the middle school state meet in the hurdles in 2019, her freshman season on the track was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
She returned to cross country in the fall and made a return trip to the state cross country meet after a 14th-place finish at region.
Back on the track as a freshman, she jumped a personal best 31-3 in the triple jump and finished fifth at region and 15th at the state meet – her first one in high school. She also qualified in the 100-meter hurdles after a second-place region finish.
Riley has since added the high jump and the 400-meter dash to her resume. Now a senior, Brame is focusing on the high jump and 200-meter dash. She also made a return to the 300-meter hurdles.
She has two times in the school’s top 10 for the 100-meter hurdles and three times in the school’s top 25 for the 300-meter hurdles. She also has the tenth-best distance in the triple jump.
This year, her personal best of 4-10 in the high jump ranks 15th best in school history.
Her competition and drive on the track show up in the classroom where she maintains a 3.7 GPA and is a member of the Beta Club. It has also earned her Academic All-State honors in both track and cross country.
Riley is also a member of the high school interact club and Fellowship of Christian Athletes.
It’s in 4-H where Riley has matched her on-track success. She is the vice president of the Trigg County chapter and a member of the area and state team council.
“I think 4-H is awesome because you can do so many things and it opens doors for so many,” she said.
Riley is one of about 30 students statewide that make up the 4-H student council.
“We plan everything for meetings, conferences, and events coming up. We are below the state officers and we help plan the statewide events. We hosted workshops. We took them to other classes. We did a whole bunch.”
This summer, Riley will be an adult leader at 4-H camp where she gets a chance to mentor the campers who spend a week learning skills, having fun, and in some cases, finding themselves.
“Seeing how timid and scared most of the campers are at the beginning of the week – to leave their family and go do something new to opening up and having friends from different counties.
I love seeing that change. I love seeing the campers grow,” she said.
Away from school, Riley has over 200 hours of community service work.
“Interact club hands out candy on Safe Night every Halloween. At Christmas, I’ve dressed up as a Disney princess before the parade,” she said.
Two projects that mean the most to her are helping her grandfather Bob Brame with the Trigg County Historical Society and tutoring at Genesis Express.
After high school, Riley plans to attend Murray State University and major in social work.
“I wanted to be a teacher because I love helping kids. The social work field is so diverse. You can do so many different things.”
Doing different things, whether on the track or in school, is something Riley Brame has become very good at.
