At a young age, Ronald Brookins would attend church with his parents, Ronald Sr. and Pamela Brookins. His belief in God has influenced him to be a better student, athlete and person in general.

Ronald Brookins, a member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes group and a the Sacramento State track and field team, uses his talents and abilities to praise God and motivate others on regular bases.

“God is a huge influence in my life,” Ronald Brookins said. “That is the main reason why I run track. Every time I run, I am running to glorify him.”

Ronald Brookins is a junior and was named the Athlete of the Meet at the Big Sky Conference Championships.

He finished in first in the 55-meter hurdles with a time of 7.28 seconds, third in the team sweep of the 55-meter dash with a time of 6.46 seconds and won the men’s long jump at the Big Sky Tournament.

He also earned an invite to the NCAA indoor championships over the weekend in Fayetteville, Ark., where he broke a Sac State record in the 60-meter hurdles by running the event in 7.84 seconds. However, he ended up .04 seconds of advancing to the finals.

As a child, Brookins played baseball and football, ran track and did karate.

When Ronald Brookins entered high school he stopped playing baseball and karate to focus on football, basketball and running track.

“It was either play baseball or run track,” Ronald Brookins said. “So I decided to start running track in order to stay in shape for football.”

Pamela Brookins said that Ronald’s dedication for sports started when he was young.”He was a good kid,” Pamela Brookins said. “He used to wake up early in the morning to practice. Ronald was always very dedicated. He started running track in elementary school, but didn’t gain interest until he was a teenager because as a child football was his main focus.”

During his freshman year, Ronald Brookins was the Big Sky champion in the 110-meter hurdles and the long jump.

At the end of his freshman year, he went to the International Association of Athletics Federations Junior World Championship in Poland and placed 17th in the world.

Ronald Brookins said going to Poland was the most memorable moment in his track and field career.

“Traveling with the USA team to Poland, getting to wear the USA uniform and representing our country was really cool,” Ronald Brookins said. “It was a taste of what I want to do when I get older.”

During his sophomore year, Ronald Brookins won the Big Sky title in the 110-meter hurdles for the second time.

Kathleen Raske, director of track and field/cross-country, said Ronald Brookins has improved his speed a great amount since his freshman year.

“He transitioned from the high school hurdle height to the college hurdle height in his first year,” Raske said. “Ronald has improved am enormous amount in everything that has done. He is a very versatile athlete.”

Pamela Brookins said she always knew her son was destined to be a great person because of his dedication and his leadership qualities.

“He has always been a leader but I have seen him blossom into a greater leader,” Pamela Brookins said. “He expects the best and he wants to be the best.”

Ronald Brookins said being a student athlete at Sac State can be hard work because you have to balance both school and sports.

“Aside from the regular work, we have long practice hours,” Ronald Brookins said. “It’s cool that we get priority registration because of our long practice hours, but it is all about time management.”

Ronald said his goals are what keep him motivated and working hard.

“I want to graduate on the Dean’s List,” Ronald Brookins said. “Right now my grade point average is at a 3.5, so as long as I do well in the rest of my classes I can achieve my goal.”

Ronald Brookins said that the Olympics are a goal of his but he wants to focus on his career as well.

“I hope to make it to the 2012 Olympics, which is in London,” he said. “I have a couple of more years to drop my time down and get higher on the list. But as in life, I want to go to law school. I want to be a sports agent and if not a sports agent, then I want to be a consultant. Right now I am a business management major which flows in perfectly for me to do both.”

Jules Ramzy can be reached at [email protected]