Belvidere North grad Braeden Brown eyes new challenge at Illinois State as decathlete

Belvidere North grad Braeden Brown has always prided himself on his versatility.

Whether it be his ability to stand out in all three seasons — on the golf team in the fall, on the basketball court in the winter and on the track and field team in the spring — or just his wide range of skills in track and field alone, he's always been considered to have range.

And he's always used it.

But from now on, he will rely on it.

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"I've kind of been pretty good at every sport I've tried — and every event I've tried," said Brown, who is about to take off on a strange new adventure as a decathlete at Illinois State University in Bloomington-Normal. "I guess I'm genetically gifted in that way, so this seems like a good fit. And my work ethic has always been there, too. So I'm ready to see what I can do."

Brown was the NIC-10 Field Athlete of the Year this past season after he led Belvidere North to the conference team title. The Blue Thunder won it all by 50 points.

Brown won the high jump by four inches, but his versatility then shown through when he also won the 400-meter run by nearly a second at the conference meet and then anchored the 4x400 relay team to a win.

He has that unique blend of speed, power and jumping ability.

"He's always had all of those skills," Belvidere North's boys track and field head coach Ken Husser said. "We knew he could do it all, even as a freshman, when we had him try just about everything, you could tell it was all there."

Brown, a three-time state qualifier, advanced to this year's IHSA Class 2A state championships in the high jump, the 400 and the 4X400 relay. He holds the school record in both the 400 run and the mile relay.

He didn't haul in a state medal in any event, but throughout his high school career, he has done it all, also competing in the long jump, the 200 and 800, the 110 high hurdles, and in all three relays.

"I've always heard that I had that unusual mix of speed and jumping ability, but now I'll really get to find out if I do," Brown said "I'm jacked up about this. I love the idea of learning some new things, and finding out where this can take me."

He will be the fourth decathlete on the ISU men's team and will at least start behind senior Ariel Atias, who has the school record in the decathlon. But he's ready to learn.

In fact, he's already hard at work this summer on the track and around it at Belvidere North.

He has to learn new events like the javelin, the shot put, the discus and distance events. He's getting ready.

"I'm training every day; I've got so much to learn," Brown said. "It's such an exciting event. It's going to be fun watching it in the Olympics this summer, and then getting to go out and see how good I can be at it."

Jay Taft is a Rockford Register Star sports reporter. Email him at jtaft@rrstar.com and follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @JayTaft. Sign up for the Rockford High School Sports Newsletter here at rrstar.com. Jay has covered a variety of sports, from the Chicago Bears and Blackhawks to local youth sports, since the turn of the century at the Register Star.