Clayton Senior on the Right Track In the Classroom and Out

Already she's won two state titles each in the 100 and 200 meters and one in the long jump. She'll attend UNC on a track scholarship.

"She just has that natural glide to her," says Clayton coach J.C. Triplett. "She just runs with no effort. It just comes natural to her."

She doesn't think so. "I've had to work a lot in track definitely to get to the level I am," Gainey says. "But it feels good once you know that you can go out there and achieve and live up to your potential."

Don't think winning doesn't matter, though. "Some people have that inside them, they don't want to lose. And she's got that kind of attitude. She doesn't want to lose," Triplett says.

Academically, Gainey is a winner too. She is an A student who will not be defeated in the classroom.

"She's the kind of student that when she doesn't get something right away, she keeps working and working and working until she does get it," says math teacher Randy Parker. "She's a very hard worker in class to try and get the concepts down and get the things to where she understands them."

"You've got a student-athlete in the best of both worlds," Parker says. "And she excels in the classroom and she excels on the athletic field."

Maybe she is doing what comes naturally -- working hard. "It's just in me. I'm the type of person that can't do bad. I like to do good in everything that I can, so it's just personally in me just to do good, and I don't like making Bs," she says.

Anissa Gainey is the winner of this week's Extra Effort Award. Tom Suiter's Extra Effort award airs Wednesdays during WRAL's 6:00 News.

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