AUSTIN, Texas – Stan Holloway stood up from his seat Friday night and could sense what his youngest son was too focused to grasp.
On the track below, Gators All-American
Grant Holloway was about to duel Kentucky standout and reigning Southeastern Conference champion Daniel Roberts in the 110-meter hurdles. Less than a month ago in Fayetteville, Ark., Roberts snapped Holloway's 16-race win streak in his premier event, setting the stage for what was billed in the weeks since as the marquee affair of the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
When it was time to introduce the competitors, the PA announcer at Mike A. Myers Stadium did his best Michael Buffer impersonation as he rattled off the names of Holloway and Roberts, both juniors.
An electric buzz crackled throughout the crowd of more than 11,000 gathered on the University of Texas campus.
"It looked like people came to see that race,'' said Stan Holloway, who made the trip from his home in the Tidewater region of Virginia. "People paid and those two put on a show."
In the end, it was Holloway who played the role of show-stopper, posting a time of 12.98 seconds to set a new collegiate record. In edging his biggest rival, Holloway eclipsed the 40-year-old collegiate record set by former Maryland sprinter and NFL receiver Renaldo Nehemiah in 1979.
When the realization of what he had accomplished set in, Holloway offered a pose on the turn past the finish line as the PA announcer thundered: "An incredible day for
Grant Holloway."
Moments later, as Holloway passed the assembled media on the way to prepare for the last event of his final collegiate meet, he stopped briefly and shared a brief message into the first camera he saw: "Eat your words."
Holloway said the emotion of the moment and two intense weeks of training leading up to Friday night's historic performance came pouring out.
Yes, this one meant more.
"Of course," he said. "You come back after a tough loss at SECs. You've got everybody in your ear saying you're not good enough. The media saying you're not qualified, that Daniel Roberts is here to take it. And all these outside sources saying Coach [Mike] Holloway can't coach. A combination of things."
When the gun sounded, Holloway took off and refused to be denied with Roberts (second, 13.00, tied for the old collegiate record) pushing him every step of the way. Unlike at the SEC Championships, it was Holloway who closed strongest to become the first man in NCAA history to sweep the indoor and outdoor high hurdles three consecutive seasons.
Holloway's performance in the 110 hurdles and as the third leg for the Gators' 4x100 relay team that set a collegiate record (37.97 seconds) to open the meet helped the Gators finish national runner-up to Texas Tech, which won the school's first national title in any sport.
He was far from finished.
Holloway closed the meet in spectacular fashion by running a 43.74-second split in the 4x400 – a world-class leg and best in the field – to lift the Gators to a second-place finish with a school-record 2:59.60.
It was an amazing swan song for Holloway, who, according to post-meet comments from head coach
Mike Holloway, will turn pro and set his sights on the upcoming 2019 IAAF World Championships and 2020 Tokyo Olympics after some well deserved rest.
The looming rematch with Roberts set the stage for Holloway, who departs UF with a school-record eight national championships, surpassing Marquis Dendy (seven) on the program's all-time list.
"We've been talking about it,'' said Coach Holloway. "We have ultimate respect for Daniel Roberts and his coach, Tim Hall. We know they are both great competitors. We had to match their intensity. We knew Daniel was capable of that. I thought it was going to take a sub-13 [time] to win the race and it did. I've been very intense with him in practice on what he had to do get to that level and he accomplished it."
Gators hurdler Grant Holloway, center, is all business as he duels with rival Daniel Roberts, right, in the 110-meter hurdles Friday night in Austin, Texas. (Photo: Alex de la Osa/UAA Communications)
Prior to the race, those closest to Holloway, who grew up in Chesapeake, Va., wondered if he was too focused on avenging the loss to Roberts. A gregarious personality and the team's director of fun, Holloway is at his best when loose and living in the moment.
"We were trying to calm him down. He wanted it so much,'' said teammate
Ryan Clark, who ran the final leg on UF's 4x100 relay team. "I could tell from his face in the warmup that he really wanted it."
Gators sophomore
Hakim Sani Brown watched as Holloway's internal burn set the tone at practice in the days leading up to the national finals.
"I know he was working hard in practice,'' Sani Brown said. "I think he was expecting it. I know what he can do. That was a really good race for him."
What transpired Friday on national television on ESPN introduced Holloway to a larger audience. If they didn't know much about Holloway before, they do now after replays of his historic win on "SportsCenter" aired between highlights of the NBA Finals.
Right before the race, the Holloways – Grant and Mike – looked each other in the eyes. The coach's words resonated with his star pupil.
"Let's do it,'' he said.
The hurdler then did it.
"You're on the line, you take a deep breath, and you go do what you've got to do,''
Grant Holloway said.
From his perch in the stands, Stan Holloway finally took a breath when his son crossed the finish line. The blur of 12.98 seconds remained in his mind as Grant prepared to step onto the medal stand after the meet.
Still beaming, Stan was asked the first time he realized moments such as these might someday be possible for Grant. He instantly recalled it was when his son won the national prep indoor high hurdles title as a junior in high school and the joy he displayed in winning.
On a hot and humid evening deep in the heart of Texas, Stan witnessed the same type of exuberance following Grant's performance that will go down as one of the most memorable of his career.
"When he is in a situation when he is truly having fun, special things are going to happen,'' Stan Holloway said. "It was an amazing race."
One for the record books.
