Daily Pilot High School Female Athlete of the Week: Running a great communicator for Sage Hill’s Button

For a great portion of her formative years, Brooklyn Button lived abroad.

Born in Louisville, Ky. to two Canadian parents, Darryl and Karla, she may well consider herself a citizen of the world.

From the ages of 12 to 16, she resided in the Netherlands. More recently, before arriving at Sage Hill School in the fall, she returned to her childhood home of Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Each place had its own distinct culture. When moving around, it would be beneficial to familiarize oneself with the lingua franca, more commonly known as the primary language used to create understanding between people who speak different languages.

Button admits that her knowledge of the Dutch language is limited, but she always found a way to make new friends through the unspoken language of running.

When Button was in kindergarten, her mom began a running club at her elementary school. It got serious in the seventh grade, when she joined the cross-country team at her international school: The American School of the Hague in Wassenaar, Netherlands.

The competition was one thing, but what kept Button engaged with the sport was the opportunity to travel to new places. Each meet was held in a different country, as her school would compete against the other American international institutions.

Button explained that she would find herself in Paris one weekend, London the next, and Belgium the week after. At the end of each season, the end-of-the-year championships called the International School Sport Tournament, would be held in Zurich, Switzerland.

“When I was traveling to the different countries to compete in races, we would house at fellow students’ houses that we would be competing with,” Button said. “Sometimes, English wasn’t their first language, so running was like the common language that we had with them.”

So it was the same for Button when she returned to the United States. She was grateful to find that cross-country was in the fall, as she was able to use the sport as a medium to gain a new circle of friends.

When she found out she was moving again, Button reached out to Lightning coach Nate Miller. What she did next ingratiated herself to her new teammates, without ever having met them in person.

“We had a training log, an online log, over the summer,” Miller said. “Even though she was still in Iowa all summer long, she participated in that. The girls knew that she was running every day, running a lot.”

“I think that motivated them because they were like, ‘Oh my God, this new girl is coming. She’s pretty serious, so we should get on board.’”

“She was probably the most active over the summer, even though she wasn’t with us. I think that probably created a bond right there. She wanted to really be a part of the team and help us out.”

The Lightning had several runners returning from last year’s state-qualifying roster, including Ashton Carroll, Maya Jaffe and Alice Warden. With the addition of Button, Sage Hill has achieved a season-high ranking of third in the section’s Division 5 poll.

Button has made history in her lone season with the Lightning. She became the school’s first girls’ cross-country runner to break 18 minutes on a three-mile course when she ran a time of 17 minutes, 46 seconds at Irvine’s Mason Park in the Academy League Finals.

The following race, this past Saturday, Button impressed by winning her Division 5 heat at the section’s divisional preliminaries in 18:21. Her time was second overall within the division, behind Sun Valley Village Christian freshman Mia Barnett’s mark of 18:16.2.

“I kind of wouldn’t be surprised if she has another small breakthrough and ran really well this weekend,” Miller said of Button’s chances to win a section title.

The possibility is there for Button to win a section individual title, but the senior says that personal accolades are not her motivation. She advanced to the state meet in Iowa last year as an individual, and this time, she wants to go as a team.

“I’m not motivated to be the winner of the race,” Button said. “I’ll do whatever is best for the team, either to qualify for state or prepping myself to be fast for state.”

Seeking individual honors may be the best way for Button to help her team. Miller called it “a great advantage” to have a runner that could place in the top five at CIF finals, which will be held at the Riverside City Cross-Country Course on Saturday.

Over the years, Button has been involved in myriad activities. She joined clubs at school, entertained in school plays, and participated in speech and debate.

Button said she put all other extracurricular activities aside to focus on cross-country this fall. It has paid dividends, as she has improved throughout the season. When the season is over, the signs remain that she can resume speech and debate at any time.

“It would be an honor for us all, and we would be very proud of each other,” she said in her best politically-correct answer when asked how she would feel to see Sage Hill advance to the state meet. “It would be great to see all of our hard work pay off.”

Button took a college visit on Tuesday, but she would not reveal the school. She did convey that her focus at this time is on attending college in California.

Her older brother, Lukas, 20, attends UCLA. Button also has a younger sister, Lily, a freshman at Sage Hill who could possibly swim for the Lightning in the spring.

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Brooklyn Button

Born: Aug. 25, 1999

Hometown: Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Height: 5 feet 4

Weight: 104 pounds

Sport: Cross-country

Year: Senior

Coach: Nate Miller

Favorite food: Butternut Squash

Favorite movie: “The Princess Bride”

Favorite athletic moment: Button set a Sage Hill School record in the Academy League Finals, becoming the first girls’ cross-country runner to break 18 minutes as a member of the Lightning. She ran 17:46 on the three-mile course at Mason Park in Irvine to finish second in the league finals meet.

Week in review: The senior continued her sterling season by winning her Division 5 heat in the CIF Southern Section preliminaries last Saturday at the Riverside City Cross-Country Course. Button crossed the finish line in 18:21, which was good for second overall among competitors in her division.

Andrew.Turner@latimes.com

Twitter: @ProfessorTurner