Breaking one’s limits is something many athletes yearn to accomplish throughout their respective careers, but it’s even more glorious when the athlete is just entering their prime like Brooke Gelinas of the women’s golf team at Utah Tech University.
Brooke Gelinas is a freshman dental hygiene major from Bonney Lake, Washington. She was recently named golfer of the week in the Western Athletic Conference for her stellar performance at the Northern Arizona Red Rocks Invitational in Sedona, Arizona.
Gelinas finished the invitational with a 215-stroke count, breaking the previous school record at Utah Tech of 217-strokes.
“It felt good,” said Gelinas. “It reminded me a lot of a home course that I have in Washington, so I think I was just pretty comfortable right off the bat.”
The experience of home for Gelinas is more than just the rainy weather and deep green pine trees. Gelinas credits much of her success to her father who helped hone her swing before the invitational.
“My dad’s been my swing coach for as long as I can remember,” Gelinas said. “He’s also a member of the PGA and has run golf courses that are played professionally. So yeah, he’s been my coach forever, and he’s super supportive. My mom’s the same way.”
The previous record holder was Abby Livingston, a senior health administration major from Novi, Michigan. Livingston is very proud of Gelinas, both as her upperclassman and her teammate, but that’s not going to stop her from breaking her own limits before she graduates in May.
“Oh, it’s going to happen, I’m feeling it,” Livingston said.
This is where a key aspect of Gelinas’ success as a golf player comes into view: the friendly yet motivating sense of competition within the women’s golf team of Utah Tech.
The players are constantly pushing each other to be better and fix the bad habits they wouldn’t be able to discover on their own. Gelinas was able to claim the record thanks to not just her skill, but her unwavering relationship with her fellow teammates.
Head Women’s Golf Coach Lindsey Stucki also echoed this sense of comradery with Gelinas and the rest of the women’s golf team.
“It really pushes them that they have competition within the team,” Stucki said. “They’re gunning for each other, and they support each other, but they want to beat each other.”
Stucki also felt that a big part of Gelinas’ performance at the invitational was her drive as both a student-athlete as well as a person.
“I think she is definitely competitive,” Stucki said. “She’s a real competitor, but she’s humble and kind and gracious. You know, all the qualities that you can ask for in an ideal student-athlete.”
Gelinas said another part of how she got to where she is now is because of Stucki’s guidance as a mentor. She also credits the rest of the administration of the women’s golf team for assisting her in many ways.
Even though she just barely broke the record, Gelinas is already working toward breaking it again, just like the rest of the team.
Gelinas, as Stucki mentioned previously, is an ideal student-athlete. She doesn’t get cocky when success comes her way, and she is constantly pushing herself to play even better than before. So, despite Gelinas making a name for herself in recent weeks, don’t be surprised to see her breaking limits once again.
