B.B.A. student, Life U Women’s Track and Field athlete

“A nation and a University team cheer on her run”

Briana Campbell has quite literally hit her stride, enjoying something of her 15 minutes of sports fame as she sprinted her way through setting a new NAIA record in women’s 60m hurdles at 8.18 seconds. This victory occurred during the Clemson Bob Pollock Indoor Invitational, held January 31-February 1, 2025. Hurdles is Briana’s favorite event, but despite extensive training, she was excited and humbly shocked when she realized she had broken the hurdles record. Partly, this was due to the fact that this invitational was her first indoor meet, which does create certain challenges and distractions that differ from an outdoor track and field meet. It was exhilarating for her to achieve this as part of the Life University (Life U) Women’s Track and Field team.

“I was so shocked. I was so full of energy. I won those semifinals too. Fun experience for me, and I know I can break that record again in a year,” Campbell said.

This record break led to her being named the 2025 NAIA Women’s Indoor Track Athlete of the Week, announced on February 5, 2025. Her accomplishment has also been noted and shared in several sports outlets from her native country of Jamaica.

Now, let’s back up a bit to learn more about Campbell and what fuels her success in her sport and personal life. Campbell grew up in Kitson Town, Jamaica, a town enamored with a rich history of defining its own legacy after escaping British Colonialism in the 1800s. Similarly, Campbell is an ambitious freshman sprinter who leveraged her impressive athletic career with St. Jago High School’s Girls Track and Field team to forge her own destiny and receive a scholarship as a collegiate student-athlete for Life U. She has a close relationship with the coaches who recruited her – in particular, Coach Dominic Demeritte, a fellow Caribbean native who leveraged a collegiate track career into Olympic medal wins and a vibrant coaching career.

Regarding her studies, Campbell is immersed in her Bachelor of Business Administration (B.B.A.) program. She enjoys her mathematics classes, in particular, and hopes to pursue real estate at some point in the future.

“Balancing studies and athletics – it’s really hard. I’m not going to lie about that one, but it’s more about your mindset and your goals and what you want,” Campbell said.

Training is “fun, but it’s tiring”, like anything important in life worth doing of course. Campbell knows to enjoy some of the lighter days because there are always other training days that will be more difficult, and that is where grit and determination comes in. Luckily, she has a squad full of intelligent young women from all over the world to connect and grow with as both an athlete and a person. She feels she has learned significantly from them about their cultures and ways of viewing the world, and vice versa.

As a freshman, Campbell has the luxury of some time to develop as an athlete and as a person and to figure out her next steps athletically and beyond. Like many, she has big dreams of a professional track and field career. With a lot of hard work and just a little bit of luck, Campbell is sure to go far in whatever she chooses to set her mind too, and those here at Life U are honored to be even a small part of that journey.