A classic underdog story took place last fall. In only her first year as head coach, Malakai Holloway led the Minneapolis South boys cross country team to their first state meet in 25 years and finished 12th.
It’s been a few months since the team’s historic feat. Holloway, who is in her fourth season as a South assistant track coach, is currently helping the Tigers prepare for this outdoor season. She spoke to the MSR last week at the Minneapolis Sports Center, where the team was forced to practice due to the late March snowstorm.
Her runners came to her before the season talking about going to State, recalled the head coach. “Everybody was talking about it.” The team told her, “We have a chance of making it to State.”
“At the beginning of the season, they’re hungry. They came to me and [said], ‘We want to do this. I think we have a shot at this.’”
Holloway, a 2022 Bethel graduate where she also was a middle distance runner, is a middle school teacher in Eden Prairie. Her youthful appearance often confuses opposing coaches, much to her and her team’s amusement.
“Every single meet, somebody is confusing me for an athlete,” Holloway said, smiling. “I could have let that get me down.”
She also is among the very few head cross-country coaches of color. She’s also used to that, admitted Holloway. “I didn’t have any coaches that look like me growing up.
“My mom was my biggest inspiration because she helped coach me when I was little. I just haven’t seen any coaches that look like me.”
Running “gave her peace and comfort,” said Nolana Holloway, her mother. “She is so strong. She is somebody who is going to keep going no matter what,” added Nia Holloway, her sister.
Nolana and Todd Holloway raised their five children in a household where sports are important, but not more so than education. “We’re all very competitive,” Malakai pointed out. She ran in college, and her sister Niamya is a Gopher basketball player. Another sister wants to be a doctor, and her brothers are in sports as well.
“We’re extremely competitive, but at the end of the day my mom and my dad would always tell me, ‘If your grades aren’t good, then we’re pulling you out of sports.”
Making history “was monumental. It was so cool,” noted Coach Holloway. “This gap is larger than I’ve been alive, and I just did it in my first year as head coach.”
“It’s a blessing to watch her do what she loves, and what she’s so passionate about,” stated Nolana.
Added Niamya, “She always told me that was her goal, so I wasn’t surprised when she reached [State].”
Whether she is on the track or in the classroom, Malakai Holloway reaffirms the importance of leadership by people who look like her. She’s proud that she is in a leadership role herself.
“Growing up, I can literally count on one hand the amount of educators of color and coaches of color that I’ve had. Young kids of color just need to see people of color in these roles.
“But I think it’s also really important for other young women, especially young women of color, [to know] that it is okay for people to doubt you. It’s so important to keep your head up. It’s so important to not let other people get you down.”
Holloway is looking forward to going to State again next season.
“I started off my season with a lot of doubts,” admitted the South coach. “I started off the season with a lot of those questions, and I said, ‘I’m just gonna let my work do the talking.’”