Ennis’ Chase Is On For Gold Priest River Senior Wants Title Before Heading To College

Missy Ennis is perhaps the lone multiple-event state qualifier in the sprints/ jumps not to have won a state high school track championship.

The Priest River High senior plans to put an end to that gold-medal drought next week in Boise.

Ennis will be making her fourth trip to state. Although it will be her final trip as a high school athlete, the good news is it that won’t be her final appearance in Boise State University’s Bronco Stadium.

Bronco Stadium will be home to her beginning in the fall. Ennis signed a letter of intent to attend BSU two weeks ago. She plans to be a heptathlete.

She found her calling as a heptathlete last summer while almost missing the calling at the same time.

It took an heptathlete-like effort for Ennis to fly to Houston for the national Junior Olympic track and field championships. Ennis had to scramble to find an alternate flight after her initial plans fell through.

She reached Junior Olympics headquarters to check in with 15 minutes to spare.

Ennis didn’t get to bed until 1 a.m. and arose a few hours later with limited rest, suffering from jet lag. She finished 12th out of 50 competitors.

“I wasn’t 100-percent alert; I was just happy to compete,” she said.

Most of the events of the heptathlon - high jump, javelin, shot put, long jump, 100 hurdles, 200 and 800 - were new to Ennis last summer. In fact, just a week before the national meet, she competed in a regional qualifier and did the javelin, shot put, long jump and 100 hurdles for the first time.

Ennis believes the combination of events were made for her.

One of the coaches who helped her train last summer, Priest River assistant Paul Vanek, predicts Ennis will see immediate success at BSU.

“I think she’ll make the NCAA championships her first year,” Vanek said. “She could score close to 5,000 points right now and 5,075 is provisional (qualifying).

“She didn’t perform to her standard at Houston. If she’d done her normal efforts, she’d been in the top five easily. If she’d had great efforts, she’d been at the top.”

Her experience at Houston also solidified which sport she wanted to pursue in college. Until last summer, Ennis was leaning heavily toward basketball.

But her performance at Houston opened a handful of collegiate doors in track. In addition to BSU, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Maine and Arizona State asked Ennis to visit.

She was sold on BSU during a recent visit. She can’t wait to move to Boise in the fall.

First, though, she has unfinished business in her trip to the state capital next week.

Ennis, an honors student who sports a 3.8 grade-point average, wants nothing less than gold after it slipped from her fingers last year when she finished second in the high jump.

Technically, she tied for first. But the medal she took home was silver, not gold.

Ennis and Linsi Sloan of Kuna had the exact number of misses, the criteria used to break ties for medals. But Sloan was declared the state champ because she entered the event with a jump 2 inches higher than Ennis.

Although disappointed, Ennis said she probably should have won it outright by clearing 5-4.

“I was over, I had it cleared,” Ennis said. “But when I came down I caught the bar with my ponytail.”

If she reaches her goal of 5-6 in the next week, her ponytail shouldn’t be a problem.

Ennis’ biggest obstacles this spring have come off the track. Strep throat and bronchitis sidelined her during critical conditioning practices early in the season. And just after she returned, she jammed her foot at the Pasco Invitational attempting 5-3 and injured her back, aggravating an injury suffered playing floor hockey in a P.E. class. If ever an athlete was deserving of a streak of good luck it’s Ennis.

She hopes extra conditioning practices recently on the weekends will help her peak at the best time - next week.

Ennis will attempt to qualify for state in three other events: the 100, 200 and 400.

“I think she has a legitimate shot at four golds,” Vanek said. “So far, it’s been a tough season. She’s earned a shot at gold. She works harder than anybody I know.”

Ennis’ personal bests in all of her events would easily challenge, if not win, state titles.

“I want to leave a mark in Boise,” Ennis said. “I’d settle for silver at state. But it’s about time I get gold.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo