Sierra’s Gya’ni Sami honors Samoan heritage on state podium after second-place discus finish
LAKEWOOD – After missing all of her junior track and field season due to injury, Sierra’s Gya’ni Sami arrived back on the state podium Thursday in style.
Sami, whose parents are from the Samoan islands, donned a traditional ie lavalava wrap matching her Sierra cardinal and gold on the state podium as she received a second-place 4A discus medal.
“It was kind of a bet,” Sami said, “My brother (Jalen) was like, ‘I bet you won’t go up there and wear the wrap.’”
Sami said Jalen wears the traditional wrap daily.
“Even though we were born here we wanted to keep the tradition alive and want the culture to be a part of who we are,” Sami said. “It’s senior year, might as well go all out and represent the family and where I come from.”
Sami threw the disc 131 feet, 8 inches for second place and her efforts garnered attention from a number of college coaches.
“I’m interested in doing track in college, but also potentially doing multiple sports and including volleyball,” said Sami, who also played volleyball and basketball for Sierra. “CU Boulder was talking to me too, and that was really nice talking to them because my brother goes there.”
Jalen Sami is a freshman defensive tackle at Colorado and was a standout high school football and track athlete at Vista Ridge.
“They were talking about us being a ‘dynamic duo,” Sami said.
Sami’s second-place finish was behind Logan Derock of Roosevelt (142), and Hannah Perry of Falcon placed third with a throw of 128-1.
“I love going against (Derock) because we are always back-to-back,” Sami said. “But I came in today just wanting to improve. I got sixth my freshman year, third my sophomore, and I didn’t compete last year, so I just wanted to continue to get better.”
Sami is also seeded 12th in the girls’ shot put, scheduled Friday morning.
MORE COVERAGE:
Sierra’s Gya’ni Sami, center, dons a traditional ie lavalava, a Samoan wrap, on the podium after winning second place in the 4A discus throw Thursday at the Colorado state track and field championships at Jeffco Stadium.
Sierra’s Gya’ni Sami, center, dons a traditional ie lavalava, a Samoan wrap, on the podium after winning second place in the 4A discus throw Thursday at the Colorado state track and field championships at Jeffco Stadium.