During the spring of her freshman year, Catalina “Callie” Holliday went shopping for a new sport to participate in. But the shelves were quickly becoming bare after she discovered lacrosse was not her thing.
Bill Tabron, who coached Holliday on the Notre Dame High freshman football team, suggested she try track and field.
“He wanted me to be one of his throwers,” Holliday said. “Since I wanted to do something in the spring and that was the last sport available, and they didn’t have cuts, I figured I would do it. And I just had a lot of fun with it.”
If they did have cuts and Holliday didn’t make the team, it would have been a colossal mistake by some coach.
Fast forward to this past winter, and the junior has proven to be one of the state’s top shot putters since transferring to Nottingham prior to her sophomore year. On Feb. 17, Holliday uncorked a throw of 40-feet, 8-½ inches to win the NJSIAA Group II championship and qualify for the Feb. 24 Meet of Champions.
It was the junior’s first time breaking 40 feet — a goal she chased all winter — and broke her personal record by 9 inches. She out-threw second-place Eve Segal of Ocean by 2-feet, 8-¾ inches.
“I was a bit nervous but I know I worked really hard the whole week on fixing my technique,” Holliday said. “When I got up to the circle I just tuned out everything and gave it my all. When I let it go I knew it was a good one because I just felt it when the shot came off my hand.”
After that, she felt joy, satisfaction, and appreciation.
“I am very grateful and happy because I know all the sacrifices I made for shot put and both my offseason work and in-season work has paid off,” Holliday said. “If it wasn’t for God giving me the strength to push through mentally and physically I would not be at the point I am at now.”
“Push through” was a good way of putting it. A week earlier, Holliday had a disappointing effort (for her, at least) at the Central Jersey Group II meet when she finished fourth at 37-8. She was top-seeded coming into the meet after taking numerous firsts during the season, including a gold medal throw of 38-9 at the Mercer County Championships.
“I wasn’t throwing my best the day of the sectionals,” Holliday said. “The day before I had a lot of homework and we went out to celebrate my brother’s birthday on top of that. I tried to balance both and I ended up staying up very late and not getting any sleep.”
Not to mention, she was still trying to perfect the spin move that she adopted in lieu of the glide, which the thrower did during her first two years.
“It’s a big adjustment she’s made and it’s paying off for her in the shot and discus,” said Nottingham weight coach Jon “Big Dawg” Adams. “I think her shot is better now. By going to the spin she will only have to concentrate on that technique. It’s a different hand position, but it’s very similar in both events. I think it’s going to help make her stronger in both events.”
The only issue Holliday had with it was in the sectional, when she was trying to tweak her technique.
“It kind of hurt me more than helped me,” she said. “It made me slower. I have to get used to it. I probably shouldn’t have done it in that meet.”
She bounced back at states, however, and earned a second Meet of Champions trip. Last spring Holliday won CJ II sectional titles in both the shot and discus and advanced to the MOC in shot with a sixth at the state meet. Unfazed by the pressure, she won a sixth-place medal with a throw of 37-10¼.
Because New Balance and Nike Nationals were both the same weekend as the MOC, Holliday opted for the AAU Club Nationals and hit an outdoor PR 39-4.
“I did really well honestly,” she said. “They were in July so I had a lot of time to prepare for it.”
In fact, track was her sole focus in the summer and fall, as she gave up the sport she played all her life.
“I played football since I was in second grade because my brother did it and I was like ‘Why can’t I do it?’” Holliday said. “I had a lot of fun doing it. I was a really heavy kid when I was little so they put me on the line. I lost a bunch of weight and put it all back on with muscle because of the position.”
She played sparingly for Notre Dame’s freshman team, but got ample playing time at center and outside linebacker for the Northstars JV team as a sophomore. Being in the trenches is not where one usually finds a female but Holliday hit the weight room hard and Adams said, “she’s just a tough kid.”
After starting with throws of 15 feet and ending the season at 30 feet for Notre Dame, Holliday spent that summer going to football practice in the mornings and into the circle during afternoons. It was an intense work schedule and she opted to put all her focus on throwing last summer and fall, which came as a disappointment to her football teammates.
“They were pretty good with me, I had a strong bond with them and I still do,” Holliday said. “They all still support me. I see them around the gym, they always cheer me on.”
Adams made it a point to watch Holliday whenever he could last spring when he was still the Northstars athletic director. This past winter he enjoyed working closely with her.
“Her work ethic is second to none,” he said. “She’s very strong. She puts a lot of time in the weight room and it shows. She’s very athletic. I was very impressed with her attitude and commitment to the sport. Giving up football was a good move because track is her strong suit. She also has a personal trainer on top of it and she’s been lights out.”
Holliday feels two of the biggest adjustments this year were her technique and her mindset. Despite reaching the Meet of Champions last spring, she still got down when other competitors would out-throw her.
“I was hitting the same number every time or lower,” she said. “I let other people get in my head. Once I stopped caring about what other people throw and just started focusing on myself and how I can improve, that’s when my throws started going up.”
And then there was the move to the spin, which she began working on over the summer.
“At first it wasn’t too good, but I worked on it,” she said. “I’m glad to be hitting the numbers I have now but I just hope to improve even more.”
As good as she is in the circle, Holliday is even better in the classroom. She has a 4.74 weighted grade point average while taking honors and advanced placement courses.
“I spend a lot of my time studying,” she said. “My goal is to be the best version of myself in anything I do, whether it’s related to academics or athletics.”
Holliday is now intent on doing track in college; but she first has the upcoming spring season and a full senior year ahead to work on her craft. “This spring I want to place well but mostly I want to improve,” she said “I always set my goals high to the ceiling. In spring I’m hoping to hit 45 by the end of the year. I’m hoping to eventually become New Jersey’s number one and place high in nationals. I kind of set myself to that goal because I know I put in the work, and I’ve worked on my mindset as well as my body.”
It is work that is paying high dividends.
Nottingham junior Catalina “Callie” Holliday after advancing to the NJSIAA Meet of Champions in the shot put.,
