Former Lady Tiger to run for University of Houston

July 10, 2025

By: Aries Ramos

The Belton Journal

Olivia Brillhart’s future is finally right in front of her.

After spending the previous four years creating one of the greatest running legacies in school history, the former Lady Tigers standout is on the verge of a new beginning.

In approximately one month, Brillhart — a distance runner — embarks on her long awaited college career at Houston, where she

will serve as a member of both the cross country and track teams.

While the opportunity is exciting, admittedly, it is somewhat overwhelming as well.

“I’m getting to see what my college experience is going to be like,” Brillhart said, “and it has definitely been very interesting.

There has been a lot of running this summer to prepare. “It has been super fun, though.”

After reporting to the Cougars in the middle of August, the cross county team will have its first meet of the season within weeks, making the summer extremely important.

As a new athlete to the squad, Brillhart cannot afford to arrive in anything other than prime form, but that has never been an issue.

During her high school career, she earned four consecutive trips to the University Interscholastic League Cross Country State

Championships and earned a berth in the state track meet.

At each, she excelled.

A multiple-time district, area and regional gold medalist, in her first two appearances at the state cross country meet, Brillhart delivered a pair of top-55 performances.

As a freshman, when the Lady Tigers were a Class 6A program, she completed the five-kilometer course 53rd overall with a time

of 19 minutes, 0.6 seconds, and she followed the debut by jumping to 17th (19:03.0) as a sophomore.

Then, Brillhart returned to the meet for a third consecutive time, and placed 56th after missing a majority of the regular-season

schedule due to a lingering knee injury. Brillhart had a time of 19:36.9.

In her final trip to Round Rock, she placed 26th with a time of 19:10.0.

Months later, she made her debut at the state track meet, posting a fifth-place time of 10:47.39 in the 3,200-meter run.

After years of success, however, Brillhart is adjusting her expectations for her freshman campaign with the Cougars. “I know the transition to college is going to be a big jump,” she said, “and academically, I’m going to be on the pre-med track, so that is a very demanding major as well. So, just trying to balance school and athletics will be something I have to navigate through during my first semester.

“I want to make sure I’m putting the student part of my life first, and we are in a great conference with a lot of awesome athletes.” Brillhart is embracing the moment, though.

With her workout routines increasing as the first day of collegiate practice approaches, Brillhart understands life is about to become very hectic, and athletics will only be one portion. It will not be easy, but her future has finally arrived.



“All of this training definitely makes me feel very accomplished,” Brillhart said. “I just feel great after doing these workouts and hitting the mileage that was expected for me. It gets me really excited. It is really cool to look back and see what my high school career has led up to.”