June 8, 2011
Brionne Williams just finished up her freshman year as a high jumper on the Vanderbilt track & field team. Her performances this spring earned her a spot at the USA Junior Outdoor Track & Field Championships, which will take place in Eugene, Ore., June 23-26. She sat down with vucommodores.com to talk about her first year on campus. Check back next Wednesday for a video of Brionne showing fans some high jumping tips and technique.
How was your first year at Vanderbilt?
It was great. It was a struggle at times, of course, but I really love it here. It’s just three hours away from home, so I’m able to go home on the weekends now that I don’t have classes.
What made you pick Vanderbilt?
It actually came down to location. I had been looking at schools that were pretty far away from home and I decided I couldn’t be that far away from my family. Vanderbilt is a great school, but that’s what it came down to.
What are you majoring in? Any thoughts on what you want to do after college?
I’m majoring in Medicine, Health and Society. I’m still kind of going back and forth. At first I wanted to go to med school, but I don’t know if that’s right for me any more. I’m still MHS, and I kind of want to do global health and raising global health awareness in countries. Where I’m at right now, I kind of want to join the Peace Corps when I graduate for two years. I’m also studying French, so somewhere in Africa in a French-speaking country would be great.
How did you get involved in track and how did you pick the high jump? 
Both of my parents and my brother actually competed in track, so it was kind of the thing to do for me when I got into middle school. In seventh grade, when I was able to join the team, I actually missed the deadline so I wasn’t able to be on the team. In the eighth grade I finally made the deadline and got on the team. At first they wanted me to be a sprinter, and I didn’t really want to run all the time in the heat. My coach just kind of threw me into the high jump. I wasn’t amazing at it or anything, but I just happened to be kind of god at it so they kept me going at it.
When did you realize that you were good enough to compete in college?
It was sophomore year, after I broke the school record in the high jump. My competition that was there that day, I was talking to her dad and he said that by jumping that high I was going to start getting offers immediately. So that’s when I knew. I never ever thought that I would be competing in the high jump in college. That’s when I knew it was going to be serious.
What is your favorite thing about high jumping?
I love that I’m a jumper. It’s different from some of the track and field events. People don’t usually understand the high jump; they don’t understand how to do it, so it’s kind of fascinating to them. I think that’s pretty cool about it.
