Michelle Holt is a sprinter for Chico State’s track and field team. Holt is in her sophomore year as a kinesiology major and has had early success as a Wildcat so far this season. She placed first in the 100 and 200-meter dash at the Wildcat Invitational March 10. She is also a part of the 4×400 relay team, which also placed first in the Wildcat Invitational.

Q: How did you first get involved in track and field?

A: That’s actually a really funny story. I played basketball my entire life and then one day my English teacher had a sub, which was the track coach. He was this crazy old man that played the guitar and talked about turtles. He just randomly pointed me out and said ‘I want you to run track’ so I did it and I am still here and still doing it eight years later.

Q: Do you have any goals for this year?

A: This season I want to get my 200-meter time down to about 23 seconds. I want to run the 200 consistently at 24 and 25 seconds, so by the time I get to conference, I can be a low 24, or a nice 23.

Q: How do you feel about your performance this year? 

A: The season is still very new and my body is still adjusting. I feel a lot stronger and faster than I did last year, but I still have so much to learn from it like everybody else. It’s such a new team this year, I feel like I am learning different things from different players.

Q: Do you perform any routines or rituals before or after an event? 

A: I eat really good meals the night before a track meet. I’ll go out to eat and have the healthiest meal possible. Then I’ll get some good sleep and then the next morning I’ll be really picky about the food that I eat and drink a bunch of water. I always have Gatorade with me on game day, at least three or four of them.

Q: Who or what inspires you?

A: I have a lot of things that inspire me. Specifically, strong black women like Michelle Obama and Beyonce empower me.

Q: What are your plans after college?

A: I want to be a physical therapist, that’s where my mind is at this point in my life. I want to help people in the best way possible. Helping people to recover and rehabilitate can be hard sometimes, so being that crutch for somebody is something everybody needs.

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Andrew Baumgartner can be reached at [email protected] or @abaum94 on Twitter.