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Garfield girls track coach Meghan DeCarlo was elated by the news in February 2025 that Elanna Henry was going to join her team.
"Somebody told me she was going to come out and I got really excited," DeCarlo said. "When the best athlete in the school decides to come out for your sport, that tends to happen.''
The problem was what to do with her and where to put her, DeCarlo remembers.
Henry, the North Jersey Female Athlete of the Week presented by HSS, had played soccer as a freshman and basketball as a junior and had been a mainstay on the softball team her freshman year before missing her sophomore year. She also was a star on Garfield's flag football team, playing wide receiver.
"We had her run and she did very well in the 100, 200 and 400 and she was pretty good in the long jump, but she really didn't want to run the longer races," DeCarlo said.
Henry agreed: "I liked the 100 but I really wasn't the fastest kid," she said.
Then someone put a softball in her hand and the former catcher threw it very, very far.
"So they handed me a long stick and told me to throw it," Henry said with a laugh.
Romeo, meet Juliet.
Fourteen months later, Henry is a two-time Bergen County champion and became Garfield's fourth state group champion in the event, heaving the long stick, better known as a javelin, 142 feet, 3 inches to win the Group 3 state title.
On June 3, she finished third in the State Meet of Champions. By this time next year, she's likely to be contending for a college conference championship.
"I played softball all the time growing up," Henry said. "And when I got to high school, I was open to trying almost any sport. I played basketball for a year, did competitive cheer and sideline cheer through last year and played on defense for the soccer."
When her softball coach and most of former teammates left the sport after her sophomore year, Henry was ready to move on and had instant success in the javelin, winning BMOC in an upset a year ago and getting all the way to the State Meet of Champions when she finished 13th.
And being ineligible her sophomore spring had opened her eyes and forced her to focus on academics, so she could enjoy athletics again.
"There were some personal things that happened that put me in that spot and I had to focus more in the classroom," she said. "I needed to make that choice and I learned what I had to do to succeed there."
With that renewed focus on academics came a determination to excel with the javelin. After her junior year, she gave up basketball and cheer, sticking to javelin and flag football. She worked with throws coach Chris Storms and got advice from former Garfield state champs Jen Austin and Shaunteriah Douglas (now Fleming) and learned more and more about how to get the most out of her newly-discovered talent.
"Last year, I hurt my shoulder because I didn't throw it the right way all the time," Henry said. "Now I know it's a lot more than just throwing a stick."
And while she has committed to Fairleigh Dickinson to be part of its initial flag football team, the prospective sports management major is very likely to throwing the javelin for the Knights as well.
"Flag is in the fall in college and I really want to throw in the spring," Henry said. Attempts to connect FDU track coach Wesley Stephens have gone unanswered but when he realizes that 142-3 throw would be the third longest throw in conference history and set a school record by 25 feet, it's likely a phone call might be forthcoming.
"I'm surprised how well it's gone in this sport," Henry. said "I'm very hard on myself in everything I do but to be throwing my personal best this is eye-opening. I hope I'll take a second to appreciate what I've done."
DeCarlo and the Garfield track and field program already do.
Sport: Track and field
School: Garfield
Class: Senior Age: 17
Accomplishment: She won the state Group 3 javelin championship after just 14 months of competition throwing 142 feet 3 inches, the second best throw in New Jersey this season.
Also nominated: Abby Buser of Waldwick for softball and Kaleah Montgomery of Hackensack for track and field.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Bergen Record Female Athlete of the Week: Elanna Henry, Garfield
Continue reading...
"Somebody told me she was going to come out and I got really excited," DeCarlo said. "When the best athlete in the school decides to come out for your sport, that tends to happen.''
The problem was what to do with her and where to put her, DeCarlo remembers.
Henry, the North Jersey Female Athlete of the Week presented by HSS, had played soccer as a freshman and basketball as a junior and had been a mainstay on the softball team her freshman year before missing her sophomore year. She also was a star on Garfield's flag football team, playing wide receiver.
"We had her run and she did very well in the 100, 200 and 400 and she was pretty good in the long jump, but she really didn't want to run the longer races," DeCarlo said.
Henry agreed: "I liked the 100 but I really wasn't the fastest kid," she said.
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Then someone put a softball in her hand and the former catcher threw it very, very far.
"So they handed me a long stick and told me to throw it," Henry said with a laugh.
Romeo, meet Juliet.
Fourteen months later, Henry is a two-time Bergen County champion and became Garfield's fourth state group champion in the event, heaving the long stick, better known as a javelin, 142 feet, 3 inches to win the Group 3 state title.
On June 3, she finished third in the State Meet of Champions. By this time next year, she's likely to be contending for a college conference championship.
"I played softball all the time growing up," Henry said. "And when I got to high school, I was open to trying almost any sport. I played basketball for a year, did competitive cheer and sideline cheer through last year and played on defense for the soccer."
When her softball coach and most of former teammates left the sport after her sophomore year, Henry was ready to move on and had instant success in the javelin, winning BMOC in an upset a year ago and getting all the way to the State Meet of Champions when she finished 13th.
And being ineligible her sophomore spring had opened her eyes and forced her to focus on academics, so she could enjoy athletics again.
"There were some personal things that happened that put me in that spot and I had to focus more in the classroom," she said. "I needed to make that choice and I learned what I had to do to succeed there."
With that renewed focus on academics came a determination to excel with the javelin. After her junior year, she gave up basketball and cheer, sticking to javelin and flag football. She worked with throws coach Chris Storms and got advice from former Garfield state champs Jen Austin and Shaunteriah Douglas (now Fleming) and learned more and more about how to get the most out of her newly-discovered talent.
"Last year, I hurt my shoulder because I didn't throw it the right way all the time," Henry said. "Now I know it's a lot more than just throwing a stick."
And while she has committed to Fairleigh Dickinson to be part of its initial flag football team, the prospective sports management major is very likely to throwing the javelin for the Knights as well.
"Flag is in the fall in college and I really want to throw in the spring," Henry said. Attempts to connect FDU track coach Wesley Stephens have gone unanswered but when he realizes that 142-3 throw would be the third longest throw in conference history and set a school record by 25 feet, it's likely a phone call might be forthcoming.
"I'm surprised how well it's gone in this sport," Henry. said "I'm very hard on myself in everything I do but to be throwing my personal best this is eye-opening. I hope I'll take a second to appreciate what I've done."
DeCarlo and the Garfield track and field program already do.
Elanna Henry
Sport: Track and field
School: Garfield
Class: Senior Age: 17
Accomplishment: She won the state Group 3 javelin championship after just 14 months of competition throwing 142 feet 3 inches, the second best throw in New Jersey this season.
Also nominated: Abby Buser of Waldwick for softball and Kaleah Montgomery of Hackensack for track and field.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Bergen Record Female Athlete of the Week: Elanna Henry, Garfield
Continue reading...
