Flavia Daniels wins state championship in high jump at VISAA meet

By Haley Vu '23

Flavia Daniels made her mark in the Raiders’ first season of indoor track by winning the VISAA high jump, placing second in the 55 hurdles and leaping to third in the high jump despite having no place to practice her jumps.
“It was a great experience, because the level of competition was exceptionally strong and the whole team did really good,” Daniels said in an email interview. 
When Daniels arrived, she hoped to make the most of her talent on the track, but she was quickly recruited to run cross country in the fall, compete in the indoor track season, while also playing for the girls basketball team.
Soon she will get to realize her initial goal of running track during the spring season.
“I started when I was 11, and I have never stopped,” she said. She realized after joining many sports teams that track and field was her passion. “Most of the time, I feel fast and that no one can stop me.” 
Her favorite sport is track and field. She can run 400 meters with a fastest time of 63 seconds from last year. One of her favorite field events is high jump, which was 4’5” when she won a championship in Germany twice for her age group, which brings her a lot of happiness and pride. 
Daniels chose this sport because it is her passion and  enjoys and uses her 6-foot height and a lot of practice to show people her talent. 
Daniels was born and raised in Gengenbach, Germany, then moved to Roanoke to attend NCS and she has not decided if she will continue and go to college here.
“I decided to choose North Cross because an organization informed me about North Cross,” Daniels said, “and when I had an interview which gave me a great feeling, I felt really like a part of the North Cross family from the get go.”
Her grandpa was an Olympics trainer for the javelin throw (he trained Christina Obergföll and Johannes Vetter, who were world champions). He inspired her by showing that she will one day achieve something big in her life through pure hard work, grit and determination; she uses this to fuel her passion to create a name for herself. 
Daniels also said that she is “a very determined person,” so she “started running for track and field” and then told herself  “that I want to achieve something in the future.” 
She uses this as motivation and inspiration so that it can push her to achieve better.
Daniels appreciates being part of a team, Daniels believes “that they all do a great job and they are all very good at running, being helpful and great teammates.” 
She explained what motivates her. 
“I always think about the reason I am here,” Daniels said. “And also I have a very awesome coach Mr. Dickenson who is serious, kind, motivational, hardworking, and a mindful person. He pushes us to be our best and leads us to be the best team we can be.”  
This just shows how passionate and determined Daniels is to succeed and make her family proud.
Beyond track and field, Daniels is ambitious. “In the future I want to be famous,” Daniels said with humor, “a rich and a cool person.”
For now, she realized fame on a smaller scale -- as a member of the Homecoming Court. 
Daniels has made a big impact on her teammates, especially since she and Kerrigan Chaney ‘24 are the only girls on the Indoor Track team.
”Without Flavia, I would be the only girl on the varsity indoor track team,” Chaney said. “It’s nice to have another girl on the team to talk and relate to. She makes me feel more included and comfortable because she’s such a nice person. She always comes up to me and talks to me.”
Going into the spring track season, Daniels can be confident based on her success that she will be able to compete against competition from larger private and public schools.
“The standards to qualify for the meet were high, and it was an amazing showcase of talent,” Daniels said. “Although, it was very . . . stressful because all my events were right after each other, so I had no break for hours, but my coach was always there to help and give advice which released the stress.”