WS Chronicle

BY TIMOTHY RAMSEY 

THE CHRONICLE

Coaches always preach that practice makes perfect. For Nytrinitey Jenkins of Northwest Middle School, hard work on the track and in the classroom has set her up for success with both.

Jenkins, a graduating eighth-grader at Northwest Middle School, showcased the fruits of her labor at the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools Middle School County Championships in May.

She finished second in the 200 meter dash, first in the 400 meter dash, and ran the third leg of the 4×100 meter relay team that finished first overall.

The county championship meet was a culmination of all the effort Jenkins put in during train-ing throughout the year. She nearly had a clean sweep of all three races she entered, if not for being out-leaned at the tape by Jada Dowd of Meadowlark Middle School in the 200. She ran an impressive time of 26.48 losing by .02 of a second.

“In the 200, she beat me. I caught up to her close to the line, but when we leaned, I leaned with my head and she leaned with her chest. When they looked at the video, they saw she had won.” said Jenkins.  “In the 400, I was a little nervous because I was in the fastest heat and there were people that I had never run against there. But I just went out and ran and I won.”  Jenkins won the 400-meter dash in a time of 1:01.88, besting the next fastest time by almost 3 seconds.

Jenkins is beloved by her coaches and faculty alike, who all had glowing things to say about her.

“She is one of the most dedicated athletes in the school, and if you were to rank them male or female she would be at the top,” said Quinton Campbell, girls track coach at Northwest.  “As a coach, she is what I feel a student athlete should be. She is self-motivating and she is going to do what is required of her and her dedication to being the best is amazing.  If all of my athletes were like her, my job would be so much easier.”

Men’s coach Ernest Riley said, “This is the kind of athlete you want to have on your team.  I’m looking to retire next year, but if I can have athletes like this every year, I would stay around for another 15 years.”

Jenkins also is an excellent student in the classroom, as she was on the straight-A honor roll and received all As and just one B this last report card.  She said her favorite subjects are math, language arts and science.  The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is where she would love to attend college.  She said she would love to become a nurse and a professional track and field athlete because she idolizes Olympic Champion Florence Griffith Joyner.

Northwest Middle School Principal Freda Smith is impressed with Nytrinitey’s accomplishments on the track but feels her work in the classroom should not be overlooked.

“She is an exceptional young lady inside and out of the classroom,” said Smith.  “Across all disciplines she is an excellent child and she shows it on paper an on the track. She is top of the line and extremely well rounded. She will be an individual that we will see in the Olympics.  The sky is the limit for her and not just from an athletic standpoint but from inside the classroom as well.”

Nytrinitey will attend Reagan High School in the fall and looks forward to competing on the high school level against bigger and better competition. Her expectations for herself remain high as she moves on to the next level.

“She has the opportunity to be one of the best track athletes we have had in the city in a long time,” said Campbell.  “You get out what you put in, and she gives it her all so going forward I see nothing but the best from her.”