Meet Cape Henry Collegiate track & field star Elena Granados
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Since her move to Virginia Beach in 2015, Elena Granados has developed as a stellar athlete and is now a key member of the Cape Henry Collegiate (CHC) track and field team. Since joining the team, she has beaten the school triple jump record twice; the first time she beat it, was only her second time competing in the event.
Granados’s athletic prowess is highly diverse, and she participates in numerous track and field events, including long jump, triple jump, discus, shot put, 55-meter dash, and the 100, 200, 300 and 400-meter races. Her skills even span across multiple sports. Granados is a member of the CHC crew team and, in years past, was a level ten gymnast, the second highest level offered.
This athleticism does not come without hard work. Granados wakes up early and starts her day at the gym lifting weights. She then goes to school, then to school track practice, and finally to another club track team practice. Granados also trains for Olympic weightlifting in her free time. While she sometimes struggles to juggle it all, she has learned how to manage her time well, participates in multiple advanced placement classes and is doing very well academically.
Granados grew up in the gymnastics community, starting at 3 years old in Wisconsin, where she lived at the time. Her brother is also a gymnast and competes at the collegiate level. Many expected Granados to follow the same path as her brother, but as she grew older and the teams became more competitive with the girls more set on college gymnastics, she began to lose her love for the sport. The decision she made to quit two years ago was difficult for Granados, but the track team beckoned her with open arms.
The most difficult adjustment for Granados in track and field was the greater size of the team. “At the level I was at in gymnastics, there were maybe three to five kids in your team,” said Granados. “My first season of track, we had upwards of 50 kids. It was a big difference.” However, she has come to embrace and love the larger group of athletes. Granados emphasized that the team has a very fun, relaxed dynamic and the team loves to spend their hour-long bus rides to each meet dancing up and down the aisles and singing to their favorite songs.
At each practice that follows a meet, the team performs an inspiring ritual called “shoutouts.” While they do stretching exercises, they make their way around the circle of athletes each sharing a report of someone they noticed doing something noteworthy at the previous meet. For this and other reasons, Granados has fallen in love with the support everyone has for each other.
Last year, her team finished tenth in states, despite numerous challenges. Four girls were unable to run due to a COVID outbreak on the team and outdoor temperatures reached 100 degrees. However, Granados pulled through, placing first in the state meet for the triple jump.
Moving forward, Granados hopes to lead the four-person, 200-meter relay(called the 4×2) to a state placement this season. She also wants to see her team place overall and challenge their top competitor, Norfolk Academy. Granados has grand plans to make her impact in the world, whether big or small, and she doesn’t intend to wait.
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