Lady Raider para-athlete shines on the track and beyond

AMARILLO, Texas (KFDA) - Tahlie Brandt is a para-athlete for Randall High School.

The Lady Raider is part of the track and field team, where she competes in the 100 meter, 400 meter and shotput. She placed first in all three this past weekend at the Amarillo Relays.

“When I’m tired, I talk myself through it, the pain and stuff,” Brandt said. “Because my arms get really tired on the 400, that last 100 my arms get really tired. Then the teammates and coaches kind of say ‘let’s go.’”

At a young age, Brandt joined One Chair at a Time with founder Joe Chris Rodriguez, where she gets to swim, do archery, play basketball, and so much more. She has always had a competitive spirit and she gets to show that in multiple ways.

“She has kind of learned from her older brother and sister that it takes a lot,” her mother Shellie Brandt said. “That it is not just going to come easy, that she’s really going to have to push herself everyday at practice to get better, and if she doesn’t get better, she’s going to have to work harder to get better the next week. "

Tahlie is also part of the Lady Raiders volleyball squad, who won a state title this past season, and she wants to add one more for her freshman year.

“We got so far, and we won state,” she said. “So, out here, I pretty much want to do the exact same thing.”