ROGERSVILLE — Amelia Metz’s first outdoor track and field campaign at Cherokee began simply enough: with an intrasquad meet in March 2020.
That would be the only competition she’d have that spring, however, after the coronavirus pandemic shut down the rest of the season.
But Metz kept working
All of her hard work came to fruition on Thursday when she signed to continue her academic and athletic career at Elon. The Phoenix compete in the Colonial Athletic Association.
“Elon is the perfect mixture of academics and athletics for me,” Metz said. “The coaching staff is amazing and it’s really just the perfect fit.
“It really is like a dream come true to throw at the Division I level.”
Throughout her childhood, Metz — last season’s TSSAA Class AA runner-up in the discus — had a lot of encouragement from older brother Carter.
Carter was a key cog in the wheel to Dobyns-Bennett’s 2022 Class 4A basketball championship.
“(Carter) has pushed me so much and he did it even when I was younger trying out for softball, basketball, volleyball or any other sport you could think of,” Amelia said. “He wanted me to be a basketball player, but I was a 5-foot-1 post player, so that didn’t work out too well and that’s how I figured out I wanted to do track.”
She also does the shot put, but Metz’s preferred event is the hammer throw. She has solid marks in the event from summer track meets in addition to an indoor state title in the weight throw from this past season.
“My specialty will definitely be hammer, but I’ve always wanted to throw javelin,” Metz said. “I think my coach is going to let me learn how to do it, so I’m pretty excited.”
Her time at Cherokee has been somewhat of a whirlwind. In addition to track and field, she’s involved with many clubs and school organizations, but she’s managed to keep it all straight.
Now she’s approaching the finish line.
“It’s been really busy, but it has been so much fun,” Metz said. “I’ve been involved in a lot of different clubs and not just Cherokee’s track team, but also a club team that I do in the summer. Every day, it’s working out, throwing or practicing.
“It’s been great to make new friends and also have my lifelong friends by my side,” she said.