After an impressive weekend in which she set three meet records in the Sam Sumner Track Invitational, Crothersville’s Kaylyn Holman continued that streak on Monday against West Washington and Rock Creek.
The junior distance runner set the school record for the 1600, which was previously her own at 5:23 that she broke her freshman year, when she ran a 5:22.
“Tiring, very tiring,” Holman said after the race. “It was nice to PR. I’ve kind of been stuck around 5:26-27 this season, so finally nice to drop down.”
Holman had a tune up before the event as she led off in the 4×8, where Crothersville ran against no one but themselves. After that easy victory, Holman turned her attention to the mile.
During practice, Holman had been doing a lot of mile workouts and mile predictors, trying to adapt to the correct pace she will need to compete at the highest level possible.
The hard work she has been putting in paid off on Monday as she was able to pace herself, with the help of teammate David Rose, to her personal record.
With about 400 meters to go, people around the track were yelling at her “one minute,” “come on, you gotta push,” “lower you arms and go.”
Holman kicked it into another gear on the last lap, pushing to the very end so that when she crossed the finish line and heard “5:22,” satisfaction came across her face.
Holman usually races alone, so she focuses hard on the mental side of racing because often times during the regular season, that’s all she has.
“You’re on your own, you got a time, you got to hit it,” Holman said. “That’s really how I think about it, I just push myself in my head.”
There wasn’t a track season during Holman’s sophomore year due to COVID-19, but when she was a freshman, she finished sixth at regionals in the mile, just missing the qualifying place for state, which is top three.
In addition to the 4×8 and 1600, Holman also runs the 800 and 3200, but the mile is her specialty.
“The mile is my favorite event,” Holman said. “So I really want to get good at that and get to state in that.”