Sports

Donyelle Brown has a unique challenge in front of her as she plans to take the Bobcat weigh throw record away from her former roommate. As she prepares for each competition, though, she could not feel any more relaxed.”She was my best friend, so I…wanted her to do well, as well,” Brown explains. Brown, in her fifth year as an OU thrower, could not be any prouder of her teammate’s accomplishments on the field.Brown has always been close with Janiece Rose. Through those years, she has been able to grow a tight relationship with the one person she knew the most. “They have that good friendship bond,” throws coach Nick Pero said, “but, at the same time, you can tell… there was always that friendly rivalry going on between the two of them.”

Indeed, Brown would not be at the performance level she is right now without her Rose. As two of the best throwers in Bobcat history, it comes as no surprise. While she describes herself more as “nonchalant,” Brown admits that her teammate “brought out the competitiveness in [her].”

Pero is not worried about Brown’s ability, either. He highlights that Brown “has that…’it’ athletic ability” in both power and adaptability. “She [takes] the critiques I giver her and [can] contort her body in was that’s going to be in the right spaces to finish the throw.”

With meets in Akron, Huntington, and Columbus to look forward to in the upcoming weeks, Brown still has plenty of time to finish her five-year journey in the Bobcat record books. Either way, she could not be any prouder of not only her own accomplishments, but those set by Rose, as well. As the season progresses, all that matters for Brown is to do the exact same thing she learned from Rose her whole time at Ohio University, and “leave it all on the field.”