THREE TO BE INDUCTED INTO THE BRENHAM HIGH SCHOOL TRACK & FIELD HALL OF HONOR

The Brenham High School Track & Field Hall of Honor will induct three new members during tomorrow's (Friday's) 36th Annual Bluebonnet Relays at Cub Stadium.

This year's inductees are Dr. Robert Neal, Kristin Caldwell, and Kourtney Lofton Staples. This will be the fifth class of Inductees into the Hall, which was started in 2018. They missed one year of inductions due to COVID in 2020.

DR. ROBERT NEAL

Robert was a student at Brenham High School from1983 to 1987

In 1985, he was  All District Cross Country…In 1986, he was District Champion, Regional Runner-up, and All-State cross country   In 1987, he was District champion 1600 m. run, District runner-up 3200 m. run, all region 1600 and 3200, and State  alternate in the 3200m.

Then, Neal went to Baylor University on a track scholarship from  1987-1991, where he was a four year starter for the Baylor men’s cross country and track and field teams under coach Clyde Hart.

He competed in the 800, 1500, 3000 Steeplechase, 5000, & 10,000m runs.

Neal came home to Brenham to coach track and cross country from 1991-1993

In 1991-1992, he coached the girls district and regional Cross Country champions

1991- Boys’ cross-country district runner-up

1992- Boys’ Cross-country district champs and state individual qualifier

In 1993-1997, Coach Neal attended the Baylor College of Dentistry

Today, Dr. Neal is still running in multiple events routinely placing tops in his age group and placing high over all.

KRISTIN CALDWELL

Kristin Caldwell was born on December 24,1980 in Brenham Texas. Through her adolescence and young adult life, she fell in love with Track and Field. She was able to accelerate in this sport with great achievement.  She ran the 100 meters, 200 meters and the 4x100 relay. During her high school career, Kristin was dominant in district, regional and state races and participated in the well-known Texas Relays event held yearly in Austin, Texas.  Her top time in the 100 was 11.95. Through hard work, perseverance and commitment, Kristin was awarded a full scholarship to Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas.

Kristin was able to take full advantage of the scholarship resulting in graduating from Texas State University in 2002 with a bachelor’s in business management and continued her education and received her MBA in Management in 2006.  She utilized her degree and education as a mechanism to perplex her into the finance industry where she has over 25 years of management experience and is a Sr. Director (SVP) in her current career.

She lives in the Dallas/Fort Worth area with her husband Demarcus Caldwell of 18 years and has two wonderful kids, Kennedy Caldwell, 12, and Dillon Caldwell, 10, and they are surrounded by family and friends still in the Brenham and surrounding areas.

KOURTNEY LOFTON STAPLES

Kourtney Staples, formerly known as Kourtney Lofton, is a 2010 Brenham High School graduate that competed on the varsity Brenham track and field team from 2008-2010. She competed in long jump, triple jump, high jump, the 100M hurdles and anywhere else the coaches saw fit for her to compete.

Kourtney worked hard in her track and field career focusing mostly on the 100M hurdles, but knows that her hard work wouldn’t have yielded nearly as much as it did without God’s guidance and the help and support of those who believed in her, including her mother Gloria…who spent many days at the track… whether picking her up after practice or cheering her on the team at meets.  She also wants to thank Mr. Shepherd for supporting her. 

The hard work, determination and support ultimately led to Kourtney being able to compete on the track and field team at Houston Baptist University (now Houston Christian University) where she began the next chapter of her track and field career and laid a foundation for her future. She is grateful to the coaches for the opportunity. 

Kourtney was able to compete against many competitors of all skill levels and scored wins in her conference, but she believes the best part was being able to meet, compete with, support and be supported by her now husband Jonathan Staples on that very same team.

Kourtney now lives in Houston with her husband and they have three beautiful children together that they hope to cheer on in sports one day. Kourtney is a stay at home mom that runs a successful online business and continues to run through hurdles to achieve her dreams and create a beautiful life for her and her family.