ROCK SPRINGS — Brandy (Brown) Nutt had one of the most distinguished athletic and academic careers in Rock Springs High School history.
She, along with 10 other individuals and two teams, will enter the Rock Springs High School Hall of Fame this weekend with the Class of 2018.
The Saturday night banquet taking place at the Sweetwater County Events Complex culminates a week-long ceremony honoring the inductees.
SweetwaterNOW, in conjunction with Tanner Family Dentistry, continues its profiles of the inductees as we approach the ceremony this weekend.
Brandy (Brown) Nutt
Brandy (Brown) Nutt was destined to be an athlete when her dad, former Rock Springs teacher and head football coach Denny Brown, had her hurdling over cereal boxes at age 5.
Her first competition was when Denny convinced her to high jump at a state AAU track meet when she was 9. Brandy won and held the state record until she was in her early 20’s.
She joined the junior high swim team in 7th grade as a diver and then started swimming in the 8th grade. That year she helped the high school girls swim a 24-hour marathon that ended up in the Guinness Book of World Records.
Brandy started her basketball and track careers at the same time. The next summer she competed in her first big competitions in Billings, MT for diving, and Bozeman for swimming.
High School Dominance
In high school, Brandy lettered in swimming and track each of her four years, and basketball 3 years.
In swimming, she was All-State 4 consecutive years, and won a state championship in the 100 backstroke 3 years.
Brandy set a state record in the backstroke and a conference record in the butterfly.
The Lady Tigers won state her sophomore year, and finished 2nd the next 2 years. Her last school record was finally broke within the last 5 years.
Brandy was on the varsity basketball team for three years earning all-conference and all-state her senior season. She was also named to the all-conference and all-state tournament teams that year.
In her final season with the Lady Tigers, Brandy was one of the top rebounders in the conference. She grabbed 56 rebounds three games during the regional tournament alone.
The Lady Tigers boasted state championships all three years of Brandy’s high school career, and were inducted into the Rock Springs Hall of Fame last year.
Brandy was also an outstanding track athlete competing at the state track meet 4 straight years.
She placed as a sophomore in the hurdles, and finished 2nd at the state meet in the 200 hurdles during her junior year.
She finally took the state title in the 200 hurdles as a senior and finished 2nd in the 100 hurdles.
Brandy also won both hurdle races and the high jump at the conference meet that year, setting school records in all three events.
Her high jump record stood untouched until three years ago.
Brandy won both hurdle races at the Meet of Champs (competition for athletes in all 4 classes C – AA), and set a state record in the 200 hurdles.
She received many all-around awards as a senior including Prep All-American Student Athlete and Prep All-American Athlete, and she also won the Southwest Conference Mower Award as the state’s top student/athlete.
“But the most exciting for me was winning the Milward Simpson Award as the top girl athlete in the state,” said Nutt.
College Bound
Choosing to swim in college, Brandy attended Southern Methodist University on academic scholarship.
As a freshman, she placed 2nd at Southwest Conference in the 50 backstroke setting a school record with a time of 27.1 seconds.
That year, Brandy placed 8th at the national swim meet in the 50 back, earning Division-I All-American honors in both that event and the medley relay. Because of that effort, Brandy was awarded an athletic scholarship at SMU.
The next year she again placed at Southwest Conference in the 100 back and 100 butterfly. She was a four-year letter winner at SMU, graduating cum laude and receiving Phi Beta Kappa honor.
Brandy started teaching and coaching in Green River following college leading the junior high boys and girls swim teams as well as USS Swimming.
Where’s the Nearest Pool?
At 30 years old, Brandy got the bug again and began competing in swimming.
She became a member of the Utah Masters Swim team and competed at the national meet two consecutive years.
Brandy placed in the top 8 both years and also competed with the USS swim team that she also coached.
She traveled with the Green River High School boys team to the La Jolla Rough Water ocean swim, placing 7th overall in the mile race.
Brandy competed at the Cowboy State games in swimming for 5 years, winning most of her events.
In her last year at the state games Brandy also won a road bike race, and was the Cowboy State Games Athlete of the Year.
Shortly after the competition Brandy broke her elbow but still competed in USS swimming for several years after the injury.
Coming Home
In 1999, Brandy began teaching at Rock Springs High School. She coached for a few years, but then decided to focused her time and efforts on teaching.
She’s held several leadership positions in the district and achieved a National Teaching certificate.
Currently, she’s the high school math department chair. Brandy says she is so grateful to remain a part of RSHS, helping today’s students realize and achieve their dreams.
