Tea Briggs '25 Recruiting Profile

Hello! My name is Téa Briggs and I am a track athlete moving into my Junior year at Bishop Feehan High School, in Attleboro MA. My journey with outdoor Track and Field started last spring. Growing up I had played soccer ever since I was four, and it was my passion and still is. In soccer I had always heard from people that I was really fast and they were impressed with my aggressive play and speed; key qualities to being a forward. This past spring I wanted to join the track team to mainly stay in shape for my club soccer season. At my first track practice I quickly realized I loved track. It helped that I had a lot of speed and stamina from playing soccer, and even though I wanted to try the 100 and shorter distances, I found myself really loving the 400. At my first meet I quickly made the Varsity team and was placed on the 4X100 team and the 200M due to my sprinting speed. Quickly I had the fastest time in the 100, 2nd fastest in the 200 and I only ran those races once all season and never even learned to use blocks. My coach quickly realized I had a lot of stamina and moved me to my favorite event for the season: the 400M. I was able to PR in the 400 all season long with my best coming in the Massachusetts Divisional 2 Championship at 58.5. I know that as I continue to run in the winter and spring the next two years I will only continue to improve. Our 4X400MR team qualified and competed in the New Balance Nationals where I ran the anchor leg. The Nationals experience was so motivating for me that I can't wait till next season to get back there. Overall my 1st season of track could not have been better and now I know what sport I want to participate in for my college career. 

Track is way different than soccer and what I was used to. I found that I really likely the individuality of competing against yourself with a larger team approach to the sport. I have always been a very competitive person from when I was young, and hating to lose at soccer, video games, and certainly arguments with my parents. I feel that drive to win very much on the track and if someone is in front of me I always find another burst to get there. The MA D2 finals race was a good example of this for me. Coming in I had strained my hip flexor and couldn't practice for 2 weeks leading up to the meet. During the final 100 of the race, I could feel my competitor directly next to me for almost the entire way. As we came to finish line I leaned with all I had to beat her by 0.04 seconds. I had never leaned in before and my coaches asked where I had learned that. I told them that I had just seen others do it in the other races and just wanted to win. I love that track is a representation of how hard you work in practices and in meets, but also how you should never give up on yourself. The mental game is just as important as the actual running, and even though sometimes it’s easy to doubt yourself, just remember the feeling of winning as you keep pushing through.

I look forward to competing in college to continue the track success personally and as a program!

Sincerely, 

Téa Briggs