Warren's Ellis warms to Miami

A teen sat in class and looked outside, where temperatures were in the teens. Flurries floated around Warren's Almond Road campus.

"I saw the snow in geology," a smiling Brittny Ellis said Monday. "I think it's pretty for the first two weeks. Give me two weeks (of snow). And then I'll be done with it."

The weather may have influenced Ellis' decision to sign a national letter of intent to run track for the University of Miami, but it wasn't the main reason she opted to continue her education and athletic career in Florida. After cramming in five official college visits since returning from the Youth Olympic Games in China in late August, the Warren senior chose "The U" because of its nursing program. She specifically wants to pursue anesthesiology.

"They're in the process of building a simulation hospital," said Ellis, who scored a 33 on her ACT, including a perfect 36 in science, and sports a 4.36 GPA.

She visited, in order, Alabama, Texas, Miami, Stanford and Notre Dame. She made a list of the pros and cons of each school, before ultimately making her decision.

"It wasn't really a quick decision," Ellis said. "I spent a lot of nights crying. I wish I could take bits of each school and form the perfect, perfect school. But Miami's close to that."

The 5-foot-10 Ellis has flashed perfection as a sprinter since her freshman year, when she won the Class 3A state championship in the 400-meter run, while also finishing sixth in the 200 and helping the Blue Devils place ninth in the 400 relay. As a sophomore, she successfully defended her title in the 400 and took third in the 200.

Last May, she settled for third in the 400 behind Evanston senior Parker English and North Lawndale senior Briyahna DesRosiers. Ellis also ran a leg on Warren's eighth-place 400 relay.

"I knew I was not ready to peak at the time," Ellis said of last season's state meet. "I didn't have basketball to condition me (deciding not to play her junior season)."

This past summer, she finished sixth in the 400 at the Youth Olympic Games.

"I was really happy about that," Ellis said. "I wish I could have medaled (top three), but I was proud."

Before she left for China, Ellis started sizing up her college choices.

"It was crazy, at first," she said. "On July 1 (the first day college track coaches can officially call potential recruits), I was on the phone from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. My mom was serving me lunch. My cellphone was ringing. The house phone was ringing. I just never got off the phone that day."

Ellis' parents, Morris and Mary, both of whom ran track at Eastern Michigan, and her freshman brother, Branden, were present for her signing celebration at Warren. She wore a green Miami T-shirt and white Miami bucket hat. The latter was a request of hers.

"Everyone puts on a baseball cap," said Ellis, laughing. "Baseball caps do not look good on me. I said, 'I want a bucket hat.' "

She found her fit.