Northwood’s Ennis captures 3A state title in shot put

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GREENSBORO — Northwood has always been the green and gold.

So it was fitting when Samantha Ennis was clad in green on Friday morning and brought home the gold.

The Northwood senior captured a NCHSAA 3A State Championship in the shot put at the 2019 NCHSAA Track and Field State Championships on the campus of North Carolina A&T State University.

Ennis had a winning toss of 42 feet 4 inches to capture the gold. And for good measure, she added a silver medal in the discus with a throw of 131 feet 6 inches. She said the four years of hard work and dedication paid off in her final event.

“When I realized I had won, I was both proud and excited in my performance,” Ennis said. “It was a little bit overwhelming to realize I had won, and both my parents cried when it happened. My friends and classmates sent me congratulations, as word spread I had won, as have teachers and parents at school.”

Ennis flirted with a state title last season, and the experience of earlier state championship events helped make the difference.

“This year going into state, I felt calm,” she said. “I was nervous but not anxious. I was excited to show what I knew I was capable of performing, and having competed in the state meet over the last several years, I knew what to expect in the competition and how it worked. This allowed me to remain relaxed as the competition proceeded.”

Ennis started training in September by lifting weights, doing footwork drills and plate work, and using medicine balls. Even with that dedication, she had to overcome some obstacles in the spring.

“I had had some issues during the season with a couple of bouts of the flu and severe allergies, which made it difficult to stay healthy, and I had been working on some new training techniques for my throws that had taken some time to develop,” she said. “Coming into the regionals I was finally able to get myself healthy and comfortable with the new training we were doing so that my throws began to take off.”

She added that committing to Campbell University back in November also helped Ennis stay focused at the task at hand.

“Knowing I was already going on to college and would be continuing track allowed me to enjoy my senior year and just continue to train in preparation for my final season and college,” she said.

The soon-to-be Northwood graduate, now state champion, will begin Campbell this fall.

“I will continue to throw in college and have received a full scholarship to Campbell,” closed Ennis. “I am excited about the opportunity to pursue my interest in nursing while also getting to continue to challenge myself and take my throwing to the collegiate level.”

Also at the 3A NCHSAA State Championships, Sophia Smith captured a bronze medal for Northwood with a mark of 11’0” in the Pole Vault.

The Chargers also saw Annika Stacy take seventh in the 300 Meter Hurdles with a 46.03 while Caroline Murrell captured 10th in the 3200 Meter Run with an 11:38.97. and Malachi Levy 13th in the 1600 Meter Finals with a 4:46.16.

In the relay events, the Northwood girl’s 4 x 800 team notched 12th with a 10:26.57 while the 4 x 100 Meter Relay Mixed Unified team rolled to a 7th place finish of 1:03.89.

Also on Friday at A&T, Jordan-Matthews’ Christian Esquival took 15th overall with a 2:08.99 in the 800 Meter Run at the NCHSAA 2A State Championships.

On Saturday back in Greensboro at the NCHSAA 1A State Championships, Nick Teta of Woods Charter bolted to a sixth place finish in the 400 Meter Dash with a time of 51.77 while Wilfred Charbonneau finished in 13th for the Wolves with a 53.35 in the same event.

Analise Villanueva took 14th in the 300 Meter Hurdles with a 56.61 for Woods Charter.

Chatham Central saw Brittany Brooks take 13th in the 100 Meter Hurdles Prelims 1 with an 18.87 while Madison Gaines took 14th in the 100 Meter Hurdles Prelims 2 with a 19.64.

The Chatham Central girl’s 4 x 100 Relay closed in 13th with a 54:30.