One of the benefits of organized sports is the opportunity to form relationships with teammates. Freshmen especially profit from this when coming into a new environment after leaving the familiar surroundings of middle school. Mariah Harvey and Maliyah Holloway of Carver High School have found the school’s track program gave them the chance to demonstrate their natural athletic talent and establish friendships with those who have similar interests.
Harvey and Holloway had never met prior to beginning their freshman year at Carver this past fall. They attended different middle schools, but the young women found themselves in the same first period class. They quickly discovered they shared a love of sports and even though they do not participate in the same track and field events, track is a language they both speak.
From the fifth grade, Harvey has been involved in running track. Her mother suggested it because her oldest child always seemed to be in constant motion. “I was very energetic. My mom was like, you need to try track, and she told my fifth grade coach,” says Harvey, 15, with a smile.
At Richards and Marshall Middle Schools Harvey participated in track. During those years, she ran the 200-meter and was a member of the 4×100 meter and 4×400 meter relay teams. The petite 4’11” athlete played volleyball in middle school, too, but decided she wanted to focus on track for her first year of high school.
Holloway began her track and field experience while attending Rothschild Middle School. A coach suggested she try the shot put and discus events, but she is quick to admit her early days learning the two were not pretty.
“It didn’t go so well in the seventh grade. It was something I had to keep working on but eighth grade was better,” says Holloway, who is also 15 years old.
The 5’9” athlete’s height made her a natural choice for middle school coaches who recruited her for volleyball and basketball teams. When it came time to move on to high school, Holloway decided to continue those sports in addition to being on the track team. One more confession reveals she favors basketball of the three sports she plays.
As freshmen, both Harvey and Holloway have gained a reputation for having great skills in track and field. The talent and work ethic of the two teens even impressed their track coach.
“I was surprised at the talent they have at a young age,” says Carver coach Maurdrice McNeill. “They both listen to me, work hard, and seemed to get better as the season went on. Mariah’s endurance surprised me the most, and Maliyah’s strength surprised me the most about her.”
McNeill has been coaching track for five years. He just finished his first year at Carver and has enough coaching experience to recognize good athletes among a field of sports participants. He has identified what makes these two newcomers important to his program: “Mariah’s strengths, she’s a fighter. She wants to do well and gets very angry at herself if she feels she should have done better. I can depend on her, at a young age, to do her part and her best no matter who we are running against,” says McNeill.
Holloway gets appreciation from him, as well: “She’s strong-willed. She’s a self-motivator. She is very determined to do her best. She does not receive as much attention since she is not a runner, but she does her best and has given the team the second most points thus far,” he says.
Harvey was a participant in four events this spring season. She ran both the 100-meter and 200-meter as well as served as the third leg of the Lady Tigers’ 4×100 and 4×400 relays. She was fast-tracked to the A Team, bypassing the B Team altogether mainly due to her impressive speed.
Holloway gave up discus in high school to focus on shot put and has had great results, coming in first in most of her competitions and also bringing a little intimidation to older, more experienced shot put participants.
Both young women have real natural talent that enables them to be successful in their sport, but they have another thing in common, too. Harvey and Holloway are driven to be even better. They work hard, and they aren’t content with today’s results.
“I weight train because I want to be so strong and so good with shot put that I can see the look on other girls’ faces when they see me. I want to be the one everyone wants to beat,” says Holloway, smiling.
Harvey also has a good dose of competitiveness running through her personality. “I keep dropping my time. I am consistently dropping my time. I get put out there with girls who are taller, with girls who are seniors, and I am faster. I want to keep dropping my time and getting faster because I always want to be good,” she says.
The two rising sophomores have another thing in common. They want to use their sports talents to get them to college. While Harvey has ambitions of attending Harvard or the University of Pennsylvania, Holloway would like to land at a school known for their women’s basketball programs such as North Carolina, Tennessee, or University of Connecticut. Like many other similarities in their lives, they both have plans to pursue degrees in fields of medicine.
Harvey and Holloway are looking forward to the 2014-15 school year, but as they look back on this year, they realize it was a great experience. Sports gave them a place to fit in as freshmen, and the two took advantage of the opportunity to earn a little respect as valuable teammates despite being new to high school sports.
Getting to know Mariah
Family: Mom, Sandra Andrews; three younger siblings
Pets: A dog
Favorite food: The Baconater at Wendy’s
Favorite place to eat: Fuji and China Buffet
Music: Reggae and hip hop
Favorite team (college or professional): The Heat
Athlete she admires: Gabby Douglas, LeBron James
Favorite movie: Kevin Hart: Laugh at My Pain
Ritual before competition: Wearing high colorful socks
Best thing about Carver High School: Sports and teachers that care. I really like the discipline, too.
Getting to know Maliyah
Family: Parents, Trenise and Semichael Holloway; two younger sisters
Pets: Two dogs
Favorite food: Food from Subway
Favorite place to eat: Subway or Ryan’s
Music: Beyonce and hip hop
Favorite team (college or professional): The Heat; also University of Connecticut and North Carolina
Athlete she admires: LeBron James, Chris “Birdman” Anderson
Favorite movie: Love and Basketball
Ritual before competition: Wear my Adidas shoes and spend time praying
Best thing about Carver High School: The education you receive. It’s why I came here.
Freshman Focus/Columbus Valley/June 2014
Mariah Harvey and Maliyah Holloway
Carver High School
Columbus, Georgia
By Beth Welch
Photos by Jerry Christenson
Track athletes develop friendship through sports experience
