Three of Virginia’s top female high school sprinters got a rare opportunity to compete in the same race on Sunday, as Aaliyah Pyatt, Madison Whyte, and Micayah Holland squared off in the 200 meters. While the full competition never came to fruition, it did allow a few lucky track fans a possible final chance to see the three together. (Below: Aaliyah Pyatt wins at CNU HS Invite - photo by Mary Ann Magnant)
Each runner has seen notable success in their respective classes, with Whyte and Holland reaching state champion level last year as freshmen. Pyatt also won a championship in the 100 meters in 2019, while emerging from under the shadow of Godwin’s Britton Wilson in the 200 and 400.
However, during the season, Pyatt competes for Class 6 Massaponax, Holland, with Class 5 Princess Anne, and Whyte as the standout among Class 4 sprinters.
With the Virginia High School League opting to not sanction invitationals with more than three teams, the trio represented different teams at the Showcase, with Pyatt sporting an MVP League singlet, Holland with GT Academy, and in Whyte’s case, unattached.
The three almost had the opportunity to share a common goal – knocking off nationally ranked Kayla Davis (Run U Express), the junior from Hough High and Cornelius, NC. who was seeded first at 23.08, and possessed the #2 time nationwide this season at 23.92, just behind RUE teammate Shawnti Jackson (23.89). In a twist of fate, Davis was injured the week before the meet, leaving the three Virginians to race against the clock and each other’s times.
At face value, Pyatt represented Virginia’s best hope for a gold in the 200. The Massaponax HS senior had set the tone for a great upcoming weekend, as the senior long sprinter anchored the Virginia-based MVP League quartet to a 3:47.68 win in the girls 1600-meter relay on Saturday evening with her sub-55 second split. With a best 200-meter time of 23.11, she was seeded #2, right behind Davis.
Holland, who specializes in the shorter sprints, held the longest odds of medaling, but also began the Showcase with an auspicious start on Saturday. Although, three girls broke the coveted seven second barrier in the 55-meter dash prelims, none were Virginians, but Holland (GT Academy/Princess Anne HS), a sophomore, and last year’s Virginia indoor Class 5 champion, grabbed the #4 seed for Sunday’s finals with a near personal-best time of 7.04.
She was outmatched in the final, finishing seventh in 7.11, behind winner Autumn Wilson of Texas, who posted a US #1 time of 6.81.
However, Holland would get about two hours rest between the 55-meter final and the 200. Would it be enough to pose a medal challenge?
Whyte also competed on Saturday evening, in the 300 meters, where she faced Pyatt in the same heat. However, that battle was anticlimactic, as Pyatt had already run the 4x400, and both runners crossed the line in roughly 39 seconds, Whyte (39.15) placed fourth, and Pyatt (39.43) was sixth.
However, Whyte’s freshman time of 37.81 in the 300 was #1 in Virginia last year. By comparison, her best 200 time (24.38) would need to improve quite a bit for the Heritage-Newport News HS freshman to do damage on the Virginia Beach Sports Center oval.
Pyatt, weary from the 400 and 300 on Saturday, was a late scratch in the 200. Holland went first in Heat 2 and gutted out a 24.89, which ended up being good for 12th overall.
That left Whyte. The Heritage sophomore dug deep for a 24.21, but was nipped at the line by .01 by Wilson. Jackson, who was second in the 55 (6.84) ran in the next heat, but just missed beating either time with her 24.29 effort, good for fourth.
The winner, in a rarity, came from Heat 1 of 6, as freshman Avery Lewis of Wake Forest, NC, scored a one second plus heat win with an overall winning time of 23.91.
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