Gianna Folz is the adventurous type when it comes to track and field.

She welcomes any opportunity to try something new.

“I never know what I’ll be good at unless I try it,” Folz said. “There’s a bunch of possibilities. Everything looks cool. I would try pole vault if my coach let me — he probably wouldn’t — it looks fun.”

Folz, a senior at East Lyme High School, plans to compete in the heptathlon for the first time this spring.

She already excels at three events.

During the indoor season, she captured the Class L state title in the long jump with a leap of 17 feet, 6.5 inches, and also placed third in the high jump (5-0) and 55-meter hurdles (8.68). Her winning efforts in the long jump and 55 hurdles in the Eastern Connecticut Conference Large Division meet helped propel the Vikings to their second straight team title.

Her impressive all-around accomplishments earned Folz distinction as The Day’s 2015 Girls' Indoor Track & Field Athlete of the Year.

Folz possesses all the ingredients to be an overall track and field standout, according to East Lyme coach Carl Reichard.

“You have to have quite a combination of things,” Reichard said. “You have to have athletic talent and the mental makeup to control nerves and keep everything together and have the commitment to come every day and work hard.

“… She does (have that combination). She’s athletically talented and committed to what she’s doing and she has a really good frame of mind about competing. I know that she gets really, really nervous and struggles to control her nerves in competition. By and large, she’s doing a very good job with that.”

Folz also is soft-spoken, humble and has an understated confidence.

And she’s respected, too.

That’s why Reichard chose Folz to be one of the team captains.

Folz lets her workout habits and performance do the talking.

“She doesn’t talk a lot about what she wants to do or how she’s going to do it,” Reichard said. “... She works hard. She competes really hard. We haven’t had a lot of philosophical talks about sports or anything like that. She’s all about the doing.”

Folz comes from an athletic family.

Both parents, Gail DeMarco and Keith Folz, were runners in high school. Her competitive nature comes from them. She draws inspiration from Reichard.

“They influence me a lot,” Folz said of her parents, “and coach Reichard. He’s very inspiring. He pushes everyone. He’s so passionate about track. Even when we don’t like what we’re doing, we still do it because we don’t want to let him down.”

Through hard work and determination, she’s improved every season. Her 55 hurdle time would have been good enough to qualify for the Division III national meet in college.

“She has done a great job of pushing the envelope,” Reichard said. “I think she always knew she was a good athlete, but I don’t think she had any idea that she’s a state championship athlete.”

In a surprising development, she outlasted the Class L competition to win the long jump.

“That was unexpected because I wasn’t really good at long jump before this year,” Folz said.

Reichard believes that Folz’s best performances are still ahead of her.

Ithaca College believes Folz has a bright future, too. She’ll run track for the Bombers' strong Division III program next year. She plans to major in journalism.

“The school is beautiful,” Folz said. “It has everything that I need and want to do.”

Writing is one of her passions. As the Back Page Editor for the Viking Saga, the school newspaper, she writes opinion pieces on a variety of topics.

There’s one issue, in particular, that she cares about.

“I want to hopefully write about women’s rights and I want to be an international correspondent,” Folz said of her post-college goal. “It might change during college. I’ve done journalism all throughout high school, starting sophomore year. I love writing and I’m very passionate about women’s rights. I think it would be a great way for me to do that thing I love.” 

g.keefe@theday.com

Twitter: @GavinKeefe

The Day's 2015 All-Area Girls' Indoor Track & Field Team

Player of the Year: Gianna Folz (East Lyme)

55-meter dash — Nadia Dallas (Montville)

300 — Mia Santana (New London)

600 — Caroline Thiede (East Lyme)

1,000, 3,200 — Megan Brawner (Ledyard)

1,600 — Kirsten Thompson (East Lyme)

4x200 relay — Stonington (Kaeli Novak, Kenna McWilliams, Meg Rolfe, Casey Williams)

4x400 relay — East Lyme (Belle Kenny, Cassidy Abdeen, Haley Ashton, Caroline Thiede)

4x800 relay — East Lyme (Ugne Kirvelevicius, Amanda Callegari, Becca Alaimo, Kailey MarcAurele)

Sprint medley relay — East Lyme (Hannah Gellar, Samantha Lee, Caroline Thiede, Becca Alaimo)

High jump — Sydnee Spruill (Fitch)

Pole vault — Kelsie Hall (NFA)

Shot put — Mikaela LoPriore (East Lyme)

Utility — Rachel Marchini (Montville)