This past weekend, six winter track athletes participated in a successful day at the Montgomery Invitational. Matthew Mintzer ran a personal record in the 55m dash, finishing 19th out of 82. Juniors Nyah Mays and Laela Lucas-Walker, sophomore Ruby Kaplan, and freshman Nadia Fairfax performed well in the women’s 4×200 meter relay. And, as usual, junior track star Ziyah Holman impressed, winning the 300 meter and 500 meter events.
Both of Holman’s races were exciting, especially when taking into account that she was competing against 96 schools. In the 300m race, Holman posted the 13th best time in the country for this season. She broke her personal record for the 300m indoor race, coming in at a blazing 39.81 seconds. Meanwhile, she stunned in the 500m race as well. Rounding the final corner, Holman was just ahead of Mount de Sales junior Isabella Whittaker; however, Whittaker made a final surge in the last 20 meters. It looked like she would overtake Holman. The race ended with a photo finish, and Holman defeated Whittaker by four hundredths of a second. Holman’s uncanny ability to finish a race strong was particularly shown in this race. More impressive is that this is only the second meet of Holman’s season. Her times this past weekend bested both of her times from her first meet, the Ed Bowie Invitational.
Holman looks to be in a good position as she continues her winter track season this weekend at the Virginia Showcase in Lynchburg, VA.
-Abby Gallagher ’20