Bright as the Sun

The Rod McCravy-Jim Green Invitational on Jan. 15-16, was like taking a trip to space. On a typical day there are many stars shining but nobody is there to witness it.

Below: Alexis Holmes

The pandemic caused by COVID-19 eliminated the usual passionate group of spectators that gather to watch the University of Kentucky's track squad. Despite not having an audience, the stars still sparkled. One of those stars was SEC 400-meter dash champion and Kentucky sprinter Alexis Holmes.

After she won her 400-meter dash race at 53.21 and anchored a victorious 1,600-meter relay which she ran with Megan Moss, Abby Steiner and Dajour Miles (3:35.52), Holmes took out a portion of time to answer a few questions about her career from her days in the Big Ten at Penn State to now as the nation's favorite in the 400 meters at Kentucky.

Winners Only: I've seen you live every year since your freshman season at Penn State. How much has changed about you as a competitor since that meet at Ann Arbor in 2019 to now?

Alexis Holmes: I think I’ve grown a lot mentally. That’s the biggest difference between freshman year Lex and junior year Lex. Prior to college, I had only run in a handful of indoor meets my senior year, so running a 400 indoors felt a bit foreign to me. I’m starting to put the pieces together. I think I’ve also changed a lot physically, and I’m learning what works for me in the weight room.

In what exact ways have you changed physically? You look stronger than ever by the way.

I’ve built a lot more upper body strength and I’m slowly building my core as well. When I got to college, I could barely do push ups or pull ups. But now I do them regularly and continue to push myself to get stronger in those areas.

You've ran in both the SEC and Big Ten is there any difference between the two conferences in your opinion?

I think the biggest difference is the level of competition, of course. I’m the type of athlete who likes to rise to the occasion so I love that the SEC has some of the most talented runners in the nation. They help me to be the best version of myself on the track.

What was the goal for today's meet and did you achieve it?

My goal for the meet was to just run a smooth race and get the dust off. I was crazy about my time, but I had to remind myself that I haven't competed in 11 months. So with that being said, I plan to keep racing to win every meet & the times will come.

Holmes won her heat in the 400-meter dash, with her teammate Megan Moss finishing second at 53.65. The field had seven runners including competitors from North Carolina A&T and Louisville.

Below: Rachel Coghill

Other winners over the weekend include Rachel Coghill of Cincinnati who took the pole vault at 4.00. North Carolina A&T's Arrieya Harper won the triple jump (11.76) ahead of two Louisville Cardinals in a small pool of three jumpers.

Carolyn Brown (2:12.22) gave North Carolina A&T another win in the 800 meters. She gained a close win over Kentucky's Jenna Scwinghamer (2:12.36) and seven other runners.

Below: Jenna Gearing

Louisville's Purity Sanga took the 3,000 meters at 9:44.69. Kentucky earned a distance win in the mile behind Jenna Gearing's effort of 4:51.82.

The 55-meter hurdles were taken by North Carolina A&T's Paula Salmon. Her time of 8.30 in the finals placed her ahead of three Kentucky runners, Masai Russell (8.44), Amaya Chadwick (8.58) and Darci Khan (8.60).

Below: Paula Salmon