FM Marcus Emma Sralla wins state before she joins Sweden’s junior team
AUSTIN – Flower Mound Marcus junior Emma Sralla has already established herself as the best high school discus thrower for girls in the United States. This summer, she will try to show that she is the best in the world, but she will not represent the United States.
Sralla will compete for Sweden’s junior national team in the U20 WC in Colombia. Sralla, who has dual citizenship with her mother from Sweden, will spend a second summer in a row training and competing abroad as part of a Swedish club team before heading to Colombia.
“It’s been really cool,” she said. “It’s tough when you do not have those people around all the time, but the summers have been really fun.”
Before leaving the country, Sralla won her first state title on Saturday afternoon and overcame 90-degree temperatures at Mike A. Myers Stadium to win the Class 6A discus with a 174-foot, 3-inch throw. She entered the state meet with the nation’s best throw in 2022 – a high of 185-0 – and even though she did not approach it, she still beat North Carolina signature Skylar Bohlman of Hebron by almost 12 feet after finishing third in the state last year .
“I was a little more nervous this year for some reason,” Sralla said. “Maybe because there was a little more pressure. I do not think I got the feeling [on the throws] I wanted today, so it was a bit outrageous, but obviously you can not complain with a win. It feels fantastic. ”
Her personal best is less than 3 feet from the record in the 187-10 state meet of Olympian Shelbi Vaughan of the Mansfield Legacy 2012. Sralla was unaware of it and was just happy to feel better after being ill for a long time last week.
“I had a really sore throat and I was really overwhelmed,” she said. “It was just hard to train, especially with the heat. I felt better this week. I did a good job of peaking for this meeting.”
More than one volleyball player: Sachse sophomore Favor Anyanwu is an elite volleyball player and plays for one of the best club teams in the country – Texas Advantage Volleyball.
She is so invested in volleyball that she continued to go to club training this week, even though she would need all the arm strength she could get on Saturday for the biggest track meet of her life.
When Anyanwu competed in the state meet for the first time, Anyanwu made sure she got a lot of recovery on Friday night and said she felt refreshed when she entered the shot put competition for girls in Class 6A. It turned out, when she won the state title with a throw of 45 feet, 1.50 inches. Her previous best was 43-0.5.
“I was not as nervous as I thought I would be,” said Anyanwu. “Sometimes I had doubts about myself, but I just had to remind myself that everyone is here to compete.”
She is the second TAV volleyball player to win a gold medal in the last two days. Frisco Wakeland junior Hannah Pfiffner, who has committed to playing volleyball in Oklahoma, won her second straight state title in the 5A girls high jump on Friday.
How difficult was it to balance volleyball training with trying to rest for the state meeting?
“Having a good environment with my coaches and my chiropractors helped me stay strong all the time and recover,” said Anyanwu.
Anyanwu said that volleyball is her better sport “right now, but track still has my heart.” Asked if she plans to do both in college, she said, “Potentially, yes.”
Class 6A, 5A, 4A and 3A results
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