Two years into her career at Sachse High School, there’s not much that Favor Anyanwu hasn’t accomplished.

In her sophomore year, she stood out as one of the best athletes in the state.

She began the year helping the Lady Mustangs volleyball team to an undefeated District 9-6A championship and a regional semifinal appearance. She spent the season setting a new school record with 167 blocks, which was also the highest in the DFW Metroplex.

Capping off the school year, Anyanwu was one of two Sachse athletes qualifying for the UIL track and field state championships. She was the only one to take home a medal, winning the gold with a personal record throw of 45-01.5. Her throw was the eighth-best throw in the state this year and now she has goals to get back to state and continue her journey.

“I was very excited to be out there,” Anyanwu said. “When it was closer to getting time to compete, I started to feel the nerves. I had a chance to talk with myself to hype myself up and be ready to compete. I knew I was going against the best of the best and it wasn’t going to end how I wanted to.”

Anyanwu started playing volleyball and competing in the shot put at the same time, around her seventh-grade year. While she initially fell in love with volleyball, shot put is climbing among her favorite sports, and she hopes to play both collegiately in the future.

“I have a lot of goals, honestly,” Anyanwu said. “I want to excel in things I’m not expected to be good at and continue to improve the things I’ve done well at, like blocking. I plan to play more defense this year and do other things to stretch my limits.”

Her growth has been seen in both sports in a short period. Her state championship throw was nearly eight feet better than her freshmen season. If she continues that growth, she’ll end up with one of the top throws in the nation by her senior season.

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By Kyle Grondin • [email protected]