Benbrook History Maker Washington Is Going Pro.

Five years after graduating from Benbrook Middle-High School, Danika Washington is adding another first to a story that began in a Benbrook hallway.

Washington first made school history as a freshman in 2018, winning the UIL Class 4A state championship in the 400-meter dash with a time of 57.08 seconds.

The victory made her Benbrook’s first state track and field champion, an accomplishment still recognized with her photo hanging in the BMHS gym.

But track was only part of her story.

Longtime volleyball coach Frances Davies remembers spotting Washington in the hallway as a seventh grader and encouraging her toward volleyball.

That chance encounter eventually grew into a college career that took Washington from Benbrook to Vernon College and then the University of Texas at El Paso.

At UTEP, Washington continued developing on the court while earning her degree in May 2025. She returned for a fifth collegiate season and added more recognition to her résumé, including an Offensive Player of the Week honor.

Now, she is taking volleyball overseas.

Washington, 23, has signed to play professionally for TJ Sokol Frýdek-Místek in the Czech Republic, becoming the club’s first announced addition for the upcoming season.

For those who watched her grow from a young Lady Cat into a state champion and college athlete, the signing marks another milestone in a journey that once seemed to foreshadow itself when Washington graduated from Benbrook in 2021 with her cap donning the words, “The Best Is Yet To Come.”

Five years later, that message is still proving true.

Davies celebrated the news by recalling Washington’s remarkable path, writing that she “can’t wait to continue watching you dominate.”

From Benbrook to El Paso and now across the Atlantic, Washington’s next court will be more than 5,000 miles from home. But for one of Benbrook’s most accomplished former student-athletes, it feels like the next chapter of a story that has been years in the making.

Congrats to Danika, and don’t forget to join her journey on Instagram.