On the Brink of Something Special
Feb 26, 2026 | Track & Field, Sports Extra
By: D. Scott Fritchen
Ten months after graduating from Ladue Horton Watkins High School in St. Louis, Missouri, Delaney Brinker elevated herself into rare air as a star freshman on the 10th-ranked Kansas State Women's Indoor Track and Field team. On February 13, she stood inside Arkansas' Randal Tyson Track Center and tried to soak up the enormity of it all during the first road trip of her college career.
She just ran the 400 meters in 53.50 seconds. It was the eighth-fastest time in K-State history. And, yes, 10 months ago she was wearing a gown, turning a tassel, and saying goodbye to what she knew before embarking upon a journey with spikes and twists and turns and finish lines.
Except her finish line is nowhere in sight.
And that's the best part.
"I'm really happy just knowing I'm so young and still have more years to come," Brinker said. "It makes me really excited about the future and where I can go. It's an incredible feeling."
A couple weeks before her record run in Fayetteville, Arkansas, she ran the 400 meters in 54.30 seconds at the DeLoss Dodds Invitational at the Cliff Rovelto Indoor Track. A couple weeks before that, she won the 600-yard dash during the first meet of her career at the Thane Baker Invitational with a time of 1:19.96, which was the third-fastest time in K-State history.
"This all sets a really good foundation of how excited and motivated I am to become even better," she said. "I know I'm on a top 10 list, but you know, I want to be first. I want to be the record holder. I have great opportunities ahead and I'm really excited."
Aside from her stellar solo performances, Brinker is the second leg in the 4x400 women's relay team, which timed in at 3:37.98 for the sixth-best time in K-State history at the Thane Baker Invitational, and then ran a time of 3:33.59 at the Tyson Invitational to break the K-State record for the fastest 4x400 relay race in history.
The 4x400 team of freshmen Desirae Riehle, Anastasiia Kretova and Brinker, and senior Vanessa Mercera currently ranks 23rd in the nation.
"It's amazing considering three of the four girls are freshmen and Vanessa is a senior," Brinker said. "It was unique that we entered without a lot of collegiate experience. But we practice past collegiate — we're pro. We all pretty much train together. Vanessa is a multi-event athlete mainly so she'll practice a bunch of different events and then sprint with us. She's a really strong girl.
"We had a really good beginning to the race and Desirae had a really powerful start, and when she gave me the baton we were already in the lead. I was able to keep that lead for us."
Brinker is tentatively planning to run the 600-yard dash in the Big 12 Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships on Friday-Saturday in Lubbock, Texas. She also plans to run the 4x400 relay as well.
"My first-ever 600 was my first-ever collegiate meet at the Thane Baker Invitational and I false-started for the first time in my whole life, which was insane," she said. "I've only run the 600 one time. If I do compete in the Big 12's that'll be my second time competing in it. There's potential for me in the 600, if that's what I end up running."
As for any nerves heading into the best-of-the-best competition with the Big 12 spotlight shining brightly upon each competitor across the conference?
"I try not to think about meets and race times and race plans," Brinker said. "Usually, the butterflies don't set in until moments before the race. We're going to hope that stays true for this big meet."
It wasn't too long ago that Brinker was the best of the best in her previous arena. A two-time all-state selection her junior and senior years, Brinker ended her senior season at Ladue Horton Watkins High School with two Class 5 state titles in the 200 meters and 400 meters, and she was a member of the 4x400 relay team that set a Class 5 record with a time of 3:45.85.
Those feats came only after Brinker was prodded by a close friend to take up racing her freshman year at Watkins High. Harper Buxner was a runner and told Brinker, "You should try running. You'd be good at it." Brinker began running the 100 meters. Then she ran the 400 meters, which became her passion by her sophomore year. Then coaches from big-name colleges began sending letters and making phone calls. Brinker narrowed her list down and took official visits to Tulane, Nebraska, Illinois, Iowa State and K-State. She also spoke heavily with Kansas and Oklahoma State.
"K-State assistant coach and recruiting coordinator Trey Brokaw reached out and I'd never heard of Kansas State — I'm not even joking," Brinker said. "I wasn't going to reach back out to K-State, but my high school coach, Nicholas Buckvar, said, 'You should reach out.' Coach Buckvar did more research than me. I saw there was a huge staff change at K-State with new coaches coming in from top-notch programs. I ended up reaching out to K-State. I'm very happy I reached back out.
"On all my official recruiting visits, I kept a running list of the pros and cons of each school. K-State was my last official visit. K-State had no cons, and the list of pros was long."
At about the same time that Delaney committed to K-State, her twin sister, Zoey, began her recruiting process as well — ultimately deciding to compete at K-State in combined events. Zoey finished fourth in the pentathlon at the DeLoss Dodds Invitational with 4,022 points while tying for first in the high jump at 1.81 meters and eighth in the 800 meters in 2:20.08.
Not bad for somebody who began competing in track her senior year in high school.
"Zoey is doing really well," Delaney said. "She started track and field her senior year at high school and just high jumped. When she came to K-State she became a multi and she's doing a bunch of events, and she's doing really well. It's great to see how much progress she's made."
Meanwhile, Delaney's progress isn't hard to find.
It's in the K-State record books.
"I didn't know I ran the eighth-fastest 400 in K-State history until I got home from the meet," Brinker said. "My mom is really big into looking into data and old times and top 10 lists. She's always really excited to tell me how I'm performing in the NCAA rankings."
As for K-State's top 10 national ranking?
"Coach Travis Geopfert and our coaching staff are bringing in a lot of amazing athletes," Brinker said. "The K-State track program is really growing from where they started. I'm glad to be a part of something that's going to be really, really big — which it already is."
Less than two years ago, Brinker hadn't heard of K-State.
Now she's a rising star for the Wildcats with seemingly limitless potential as a freshman and she prepares to make her first-career appearance in the Big 12 Championships.
Her finish line is nowhere in sight.
And that's the best part.
Ten months after graduating from Ladue Horton Watkins High School in St. Louis, Missouri, Delaney Brinker elevated herself into rare air as a star freshman on the 10th-ranked Kansas State Women's Indoor Track and Field team. On February 13, she stood inside Arkansas' Randal Tyson Track Center and tried to soak up the enormity of it all during the first road trip of her college career.
She just ran the 400 meters in 53.50 seconds. It was the eighth-fastest time in K-State history. And, yes, 10 months ago she was wearing a gown, turning a tassel, and saying goodbye to what she knew before embarking upon a journey with spikes and twists and turns and finish lines.
Except her finish line is nowhere in sight.
And that's the best part.
"I'm really happy just knowing I'm so young and still have more years to come," Brinker said. "It makes me really excited about the future and where I can go. It's an incredible feeling."
A couple weeks before her record run in Fayetteville, Arkansas, she ran the 400 meters in 54.30 seconds at the DeLoss Dodds Invitational at the Cliff Rovelto Indoor Track. A couple weeks before that, she won the 600-yard dash during the first meet of her career at the Thane Baker Invitational with a time of 1:19.96, which was the third-fastest time in K-State history.
"This all sets a really good foundation of how excited and motivated I am to become even better," she said. "I know I'm on a top 10 list, but you know, I want to be first. I want to be the record holder. I have great opportunities ahead and I'm really excited."
Aside from her stellar solo performances, Brinker is the second leg in the 4x400 women's relay team, which timed in at 3:37.98 for the sixth-best time in K-State history at the Thane Baker Invitational, and then ran a time of 3:33.59 at the Tyson Invitational to break the K-State record for the fastest 4x400 relay race in history.
The 4x400 team of freshmen Desirae Riehle, Anastasiia Kretova and Brinker, and senior Vanessa Mercera currently ranks 23rd in the nation.
"It's amazing considering three of the four girls are freshmen and Vanessa is a senior," Brinker said. "It was unique that we entered without a lot of collegiate experience. But we practice past collegiate — we're pro. We all pretty much train together. Vanessa is a multi-event athlete mainly so she'll practice a bunch of different events and then sprint with us. She's a really strong girl.
"We had a really good beginning to the race and Desirae had a really powerful start, and when she gave me the baton we were already in the lead. I was able to keep that lead for us."
Brinker is tentatively planning to run the 600-yard dash in the Big 12 Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships on Friday-Saturday in Lubbock, Texas. She also plans to run the 4x400 relay as well.
"My first-ever 600 was my first-ever collegiate meet at the Thane Baker Invitational and I false-started for the first time in my whole life, which was insane," she said. "I've only run the 600 one time. If I do compete in the Big 12's that'll be my second time competing in it. There's potential for me in the 600, if that's what I end up running."
As for any nerves heading into the best-of-the-best competition with the Big 12 spotlight shining brightly upon each competitor across the conference?
"I try not to think about meets and race times and race plans," Brinker said. "Usually, the butterflies don't set in until moments before the race. We're going to hope that stays true for this big meet."
It wasn't too long ago that Brinker was the best of the best in her previous arena. A two-time all-state selection her junior and senior years, Brinker ended her senior season at Ladue Horton Watkins High School with two Class 5 state titles in the 200 meters and 400 meters, and she was a member of the 4x400 relay team that set a Class 5 record with a time of 3:45.85.
Those feats came only after Brinker was prodded by a close friend to take up racing her freshman year at Watkins High. Harper Buxner was a runner and told Brinker, "You should try running. You'd be good at it." Brinker began running the 100 meters. Then she ran the 400 meters, which became her passion by her sophomore year. Then coaches from big-name colleges began sending letters and making phone calls. Brinker narrowed her list down and took official visits to Tulane, Nebraska, Illinois, Iowa State and K-State. She also spoke heavily with Kansas and Oklahoma State.
"K-State assistant coach and recruiting coordinator Trey Brokaw reached out and I'd never heard of Kansas State — I'm not even joking," Brinker said. "I wasn't going to reach back out to K-State, but my high school coach, Nicholas Buckvar, said, 'You should reach out.' Coach Buckvar did more research than me. I saw there was a huge staff change at K-State with new coaches coming in from top-notch programs. I ended up reaching out to K-State. I'm very happy I reached back out.
"On all my official recruiting visits, I kept a running list of the pros and cons of each school. K-State was my last official visit. K-State had no cons, and the list of pros was long."
At about the same time that Delaney committed to K-State, her twin sister, Zoey, began her recruiting process as well — ultimately deciding to compete at K-State in combined events. Zoey finished fourth in the pentathlon at the DeLoss Dodds Invitational with 4,022 points while tying for first in the high jump at 1.81 meters and eighth in the 800 meters in 2:20.08.
Not bad for somebody who began competing in track her senior year in high school.
"Zoey is doing really well," Delaney said. "She started track and field her senior year at high school and just high jumped. When she came to K-State she became a multi and she's doing a bunch of events, and she's doing really well. It's great to see how much progress she's made."
Meanwhile, Delaney's progress isn't hard to find.
It's in the K-State record books.
"I didn't know I ran the eighth-fastest 400 in K-State history until I got home from the meet," Brinker said. "My mom is really big into looking into data and old times and top 10 lists. She's always really excited to tell me how I'm performing in the NCAA rankings."
As for K-State's top 10 national ranking?
"Coach Travis Geopfert and our coaching staff are bringing in a lot of amazing athletes," Brinker said. "The K-State track program is really growing from where they started. I'm glad to be a part of something that's going to be really, really big — which it already is."
Less than two years ago, Brinker hadn't heard of K-State.
Now she's a rising star for the Wildcats with seemingly limitless potential as a freshman and she prepares to make her first-career appearance in the Big 12 Championships.
Her finish line is nowhere in sight.
And that's the best part.
Players Mentioned
/ Track & Field
/ Track & Field
/ Track & Field
/ Track & Field
K-State Track and Field | Tyson Invitational Recap
Wednesday, February 18
K-State Track & Field | DeLoss Dodds Invitational Recap
Wednesday, February 04
K-State Track & Field | Thane Baker Invitational Recap
Monday, January 19
K-State Track & Field | Uniform Reveal
Tuesday, November 11
