Greenwich’s Wright twins heading to Division I schools – Glens Falls Post-Star

Now, Brynne and Brooke Wright are ready to step out on their own. The Greenwich seniors are among the area’s top distance runners, and both are planning to sign their National Letters of Intent on Wednesday to continue their running careers at the NCAA Division I level.

Brynne Wright is heading to the University of Rhode Island, while Brooke Wright is bound for St. John’s University in Queens.

“It’ll be interesting not sharing a room with her,” said Brynne, who plans to major in civil engineering with a minor in landscape architecture. “We’re definitely ready for it. We both knew we were going to different colleges, so we weren’t going to be roommates for the next four years.”

“It will be different to see the world without her next to me,” said Brooke, who plans to major in international business. “We go to a small school, so we take a lot of the same classes. We’re also very different, independent people. I think we’re ready for it, but I’ll miss her.”

The sisters are fraternal twins — Brooke is about 6 inches taller than her twin and they have very different personalities and interests — but they share a passion for distance running. Both will compete in cross country and indoor and outdoor track.

They also both fell in love with their new colleges when they visited.

“At Rhode Island, I was looking first at academics and I fell in love with the campus,” Brynne Wright said. “And then I met the coaches and the girls on the team, and they were so nice. It was the right fit for me.”

Brooke Wright echoed the sentiment about her visit to St. John’s, which is rebuilding the distance-running portion of its track teams.

“They have Olympic-caliber sprinters, but they want to raise their distance runners to that level and they compete in a very competitive conference (the Big East),” she said. “It feels good to be a part of that.”

Both girls received generous athletic and academic financial packages, said their mom, Deb Wright.

Brynne Wright is coming off a cross country season that saw her win her fifth straight sectional title and place fifth in Class C at the state meet. She also took 37th at the Nike Cross Nationals New York Regional. Brooke Wright finished fourth in Class C at the state cross country qualifier and 34th at states.

Greenwich cross country and track coach Steve Patrick said Rhode Island was looking at Brynne for the steeplechase, one of her best events in outdoor track. The women’s college steeplechase jumps to 3,000 meters from 2,000 in high school.

“It’s a distance event where you really can’t lose focus,” said Brynne Wright, who placed eighth at states in the steeplechase last June. “I’m very excited that it moves up in distance. I feel good, I’m definitely ready for the next step.”