Several pairs of siblings are participating in track and field for Brown County High School this year. The unusual situation creates some interesting interactions between siblings-turned-teammates.

Hurdles of sisterhood

Sophomore Vivien Crimmins took her first steps at a run when she was 9 months old.Her little sister, Evey Crimmins, wasn’t there to see it, but it’s a story Evey loves to tell.

Evey Crimmins, a freshman, is consistently following Vivien’s time by seconds in the 100-meter and 300-meter hurdles.

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During the April 16 Patriot Invitational in Terre Haute, the sisters took first and second place in both events.

But Evey doesn’t just want to follow her sister.

“Since she’s older, it’s always been my motivation to be better than what she is,” Evey said.

The siblings have been interested in competition most of their lives but not necessarily in competing with each other, Vivien said.

Around the age of 5, Vivien, Evey and her twin, Maggie, started playing softball.

When Vivien was in fifth grade and the twins were in fourth, they added volleyball.

The siblings taking up the same sports wasn’t about besting each other, they said.

“I think we just had the same interests,” Vivien said.

And in that shared interest, the sisters find both inspiration and opportunities to grow closer.

Sometimes, that means being a coach.

“We always help each other,” Vivien said. “I try to critique her on what she should do better, and I always talk to her if she has any problems.”

“She always pushes me, because she knows I have a better ability than what I sometimes show,” Evey said.

Other times, it means being a teammate. “We always cheer for each other,” Evey said.

Even when they are at home, having a partner to run with is much better than training alone, Evey said.

There are times when running sounds like a chore, but running with her sister sounds like fun, Vivien said.

Most of all, it means connecting as sisters.

“I really like being close to them,” Vivien said.

“It’s a lot easier to bond and get along at home,” Evey said.

Someday, when high school is a memory of “back when,” will the three Crimmins sisters still share a bond around athletics?

“Yeah, I would say so — yeah,” Vivien said.

Brothers who throw together

Junior Baylee Mosier has mixed feelings when his freshman brother, Layton, performs better than he did when he was that age.“We’re both very competitive,” Baylee said. “So it kind of stinks when I see him breaking some of my freshman records, but it’s also very exciting for me to see where he’s going to be when he’s a junior or senior.”

Both brothers participate in shot put and discus.

Layton has been trying to break his brother’s records since junior high, where Baylee still holds the discus record.

“I was pretty close, but I didn’t get the record,” Layton said.

Both brothers also play football in the fall, and split off in the winter, with Baylee wrestling and Layton playing basketball.

Sports haven’t always been a shared passion for the two, Baylee said. Yet, as they have been working out together and working as teammates — especially now that both are at the high school — they also have grown as brothers.

For Layton, having Baylee’s example is motivating, he said.

“I’m trying to catch up to him, and I know I it will take some time, but I feel like, with his help, I’m gonna do pretty well,” he said.

There are times that the two are still teenaged brothers working through all the struggles siblings have, they admitted.

Yet, when it comes time to train, they are teammates first, and the disagreements fall to the wayside, Baylee said.

Baylee said that he finds motivation from having his brother in the same events and on the same team.

“I don’t have any excuses not to get up, because I have somebody doing the same kind of work I am,” Baylee said. “So, doing it with him makes it easier on me, because we have that partner.”

Even just during the last year, the two brothers have grown noticeably closer, Baylee said. And he looks forward to seeing that bond grow over the coming years.

They have a younger brother, Hayden, who is in fifth grade. He is already taking up many of the same sports, Baylee said.

“I’m looking forward to hopefully, maybe, helping both of them out,” Baylee said. “They’ll have a couple more years together to do the same kind of things that we do. So, they can have that kind of relationship.”

‘Because he’s my brother’

Last spring, sophomore Justin Burns played baseball. He also plays football, but wrestling is his main sport.This year, he’s running track, “probably just to stay in shape.”

And joining him out on the track is his older brother by 18 months, senior Chase Burns.

Chase described himself as having a learning disability. He isn’t involved in any other sports. Before sharing the track, most of the brothers’ time together had been through video games, Chase said.

When Chase decided he wanted to do track and field, their mother asked Justin to join him, Justin said.

“It’s just something I do, because he’s my brother,” Justin said.

Chase Burns said he enjoys having Justin around.

There’s some give and take between them as they talk, and a lot of laughs at each other’s reactions.

“We have a pretty good relationship,” Justin said.

“He can be a pain sometimes, but he’s good,” Chase said.

Runs in the family

Sophomore Jordan Dolph and his brother, freshman Marino Dolph, are runners through and through — just like their brother, Robbie Dolph II, who graduated last spring,They run cross-country. They run long distance and short distance. They run sprint and distance relays.

This season, Marino has been part of the team that broke the indoor and outdoor school record for the 4×800-meter relay.

Though they share a lot in common when it comes to events, and have even run on the same relay team, the brothers don’t see competition with each other as a major motivation.

And though they sometimes run together, training isn’t a big part of their relationship, either, the brothers said.

Running isn’t even something they talk much about.

One thing they do share at home is a voracious appetite, Marino said.

“We need as much food as we can get,” he said.

It’s helpful to have parents who are understanding of how many calories their training requires of them, Marino said.

Their father reads a lot on running and takes an active interest in their sport, something he started when their older brother was running in high school, Marino said.

It’s almost like having another coach at home, the brothers agreed.