* Micayah Holland lowered Briana William's previous Florida state meet 100m record to a 11.26 at the FHSAA 2A Outdoor Track and Field Championships
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The biggest question Micayah Holland had to answer this year was a particularly grueling one: Give up the sport she grew up loving as a child, or pursue a different opportunity that could lead to a full-ride scholarship?
It wasn't an easy decision.
Since she was a child, life was centered around basketball. But five years ago, Holland developed a strong relationship with track and field. By 2021, she had accumulated four VHSL Class 5A state titles in the sprints -- between both indoor and outdoor seasons -- while she competed for Virginia Beach Princess Anne (VA) High School.
In the back of her mind, she believed she could do both: Work towards becoming one of the best sprinters in the country, while also being able to chase her dreams in basketball, too. Then came an opportunity to transfer to Montverde Academy (FL), one of the top prep schools in the U.S.
A transfer to the Sunshine State, where she could participate in both basketball and track?
It was a win-win.
So going into her junior year, she made the move 750 miles south.
However, at the beginning of the school year she realized she bit off more than she could chew. Holland quickly realized after a couple of basketball games that she couldn't handle the burden of training and competing in both.
She trained Tuesday and Thursday on the court and then Monday, Wednesday, and Friday on the track.
"I was going to focus on track but then I still wanted to focus on basketball," Holland said. "I was trying to do both but then the basketball team [and the track team] traveled all the time. [The track team] practiced every day. It was hard to balance [it all] and I kept missing practices [for both sports]."
When December arrived, Holland had to make a difficult decision. After conversations with her coaches, she voiced that she wanted to be the fastest girl in the nation.
And so at the start of the new year, Holland went straight to work -- with just track on her mind. Then, in just a couple of months, she saw major improvements. March became a turning point in her career.
* Micayah Holland won the adidas Track National title in the 60m in March
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In her final indoor race of the season, everything seemed to click at adidas Track Nationals. Better yet, she returned back home to compete and was able to produce one of the fastest times in her career. She froze the clock in a personal best time of 7.31 in the 60m during the prelims and then carried that momentum into the finals, where she won her first indoor national title in 7.34.
Adidas Indoor Nationals lit a burning fire within her and she wanted to keep going with track for the remainder of the season.
After Holland's indoor season at Montverde Academy, she started to notice a difference in her performances.
Holland finished her sophomore year at Princess Anne in 2021 with season-best wind-legal times of 11.92 and 24.25 in the sprints. In 2022, just a year later at the FHSAA 2A Outdoor State Championship, she ran the nation's second-fastest 100m with a time of 11.26 and was the fourth-fastest girl in the 200m with an effort of 23.13.
Remarkably, Holland lowered Briana William's Florida state meet record in the 100m by five-hundredths of a second.
* Micayah Holland won the 100m and 200m at the FHSAA 2A Outdoor State Championships
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Today, Holland's current lifetime bests tie her for No. 21 and No. 35 all-time, respectively, in the 100m. And so what Holland accomplished in a year was a wild turn of events.
"I worked hard for this," Holland said. "To really improve that much really means a lot to me."
Even though Holland proved that she's an individual to watch during the 2023 season, her goals and dreams continued to expand.
That big change in 2022? That means basketball will be on the shelf this coming winter season. She'll continue to chase after a few more goals before her high school career comes to a close.
The national high school record in the 60m, which was recently set by Shawnti Jackson at the 2022 Millrose Games with a 7.18, is a time that Holland is looking to lower.
