Wednesday, January 29, 2025, 3:00PM |  42°
MENU
Advertisement
Penn State's Maddie Holmberg approaches the high jump bar during the first day of competition at the Big Ten championships.
1
MORE

Hempfield grad Maddie Holmberg creates quite a storm at Big Ten track championships

Mark Selders/Penn State Athletics

Hempfield grad Maddie Holmberg creates quite a storm at Big Ten track championships

Of the many quotes that inspire Penn State University junior Maddie Holmberg, one stands out above all. It centers on an “exchange” between a wolf and fate.

In it, fate whispers to the wolf, “You cannot withstand the storm.”

The wolf whispers back, “I am the storm.”

Advertisement

This reminds Holmberg that she is destined for the big moment, that her recent second-place finish in the heptathlon at the Big Ten championships was exactly where she was supposed to be.

After missing the past two seasons with injuries, Quaker Valley grad Jimmy Perkins led Robert Morris with 61 points this past season.
Omari Sankofa II
Waiting game pays off for Jimmy Perkins, Robert Morris lacrosse

Ditto for her upcoming appearance in the NCAA championships, June 6-9 in Eugene, Ore.

“I don’t need inspiration in the sense of wanting to win — I always want to win,” said Holmberg, a Hempfield High grad who captured nine WPIAL titles and four PIAA crowns in her epic prep career. “But that being said, I’m competing at high-level competitions. It’s not about withstanding them, it’s about knowing you belong. You are the storm.”

At the Big Ten finals, Holmberg stormed to a school-record 5,976 points in finishing behind the nation’s No. 1 heptathlete in Georgia Ellenwood of Wisconsin. Ellenwood’s Big Ten-record 6,173 points was the third-best total in the world this season.

Advertisement

It was the 10th best in NCAA history.

“I knew it would probably come down to her and me,” said Holmberg, whose point total is the fifth best in the NCAA this season.

The heptathlon consists of seven events: 100-meter hurdles; high jump; shot put; 200 meters; long jump; javelin; 800 meters.

On Day 1, Holmberg set season-best marks in the hurdles (13.95 seconds) and the high jump (5 feet, 3 inches) en route to holding down the No. 3 spot. She also ran the 200 in 23.79 seconds, the 10th-best mark in school history.

Tre Thomas, a sophomore pitcher from Ambridge, was the AMCC Pitcher of the Year after going 9-1 this season.
Joe Bendel
Young La Roche baseball team grows up in a hurry

Still, she was dissatisfied. Her throw of 43-¾ in the shot put did not meet her high standards

“The heptathlon is a vicious event because of the shifts in momentum,” said Holmberg, who finished seventh in the pentathlon at the 2017 NCAA indoor championships, earning All-American honors. “Sometimes, things go as planned. Sometimes, they don’t. You have to keep going. You have to get through the highs and the lows.”

On Day 2, Holmberg climbed up the leader board with a long jump of 20 feet, 10¾ inches for the third-best distance in Penn State history. She would go on to finish with a near-unheard-of 6,000 points.

“Maddie is an amazing athlete, she competes like no other,” Penn State coach John Gondak said of Holmberg, who is participating in the East Regionals in Tampa this week, with an eye toward a second NCAA berth in the long jump. “Her continued improvement this year has been fun to watch. [Assistant coach] Fritz Spence predicted a school record for her at the beginning of the year and it came true. To score more than 5,900 points is fantastic. We are looking forward to seeing her compete at the NCAA championships.”

Although the Elias Sports Bureau does not keep track of such things, it is safe to say Holmberg has few equals when it comes to fan support. An example of this occurred during the long jump portion of the heptathlon at the Big Ten championships in Bloomington, Ind.

While most of her contemporaries were supported by a coach or teammate at the morning event, Holmberg’s fan club consisted of 20 teammates, three family members and three roommates.

And make no mistake, this group of 26 was seen — and heard.

Loudly.

They joined Holmberg as she rhythmically clapped while approaching the runway for her jumps. Nittany Lions media relations member Will Rottler caught it all on video for posterity.

Holmberg responded by breaking her career record in the event — by nearly six inches. She later threw a personal-best 142-2 in the javelin.

“Having so many people behind me made a huge difference; you could see it in my results,” said Holmberg, a second-team All-Big Ten selection. “I had the biggest adrenaline rush. None of my competitors said anything about it, but you could see that they noticed. It was awesome.”

Awesome is hardly how things went for Holmberg at the NCAA championships a year ago. In the opening event, the 100 hurdles, she pulled a hamstring coming out of the blocks. This forced her to exit the competition. It was a devastating blow for this one-time Post-Gazette Female Athlete of the Year.

Had it not been for her steely resolve and Herculean work ethic — she trains nearly 3 hours per day — she might have struggled to bounce back.

But instead, she is stronger than ever. She credited another quote — this one from the Bible — for maintaining her mental edge.

“I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me,” she said, repeating the words written in Philippians 4:13. “It’s all about God’s timing. You have to trust the process. For me, waiting was so much sweeter. Now, I get the chance to reach all of my goals again.”

First Published: May 23, 2018, 11:00 a.m.

RELATED
David Bednar
Mike White
Where are they now? David Bednar, Logan Maloni and Peyton Kondis
SHOW COMMENTS (0)  
Join the Conversation
Commenting policy | How to Report Abuse
If you would like your comment to be considered for a published letter to the editor, please send it to letters@post-gazette.com. Letters must be under 250 words and may be edited for length and clarity.
Partners
Advertisement
Pitt’s Zack Austin (55) dunks over North Carolina’s Ven-Allen Lubin (22) in a game at Petersen Events Center Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025. Pitt held off North Carolina 73-65.
1
sports
Pitt stifles North Carolina in second half, pulls away for critical ACC win
Access by Pennsylvania and other states to online systems that manage federal-state initiatives like Medicaid, CareerLink and Head Start was shut down on Tuesday, apparently as the result of a memo issued Monday night by the Trump administration, Gov. Josh Shapiro said Tuesday afternoon.
2
news
Pa. can't access Medicaid, other portals over Trump's planned federal funding freeze, Shapiro says
Pittsburgh Steelers owner Arthur J. Rooney II looks on prior to the NFL football game against the Philadelphia Eagles, Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024, in Philadelphia.
3
sports
Jason Mackey: Art Rooney II's reasoning for keeping Mike Tomlin as Steelers coach feels misguided
Mount Washington and Downtown photographed on Monday, April 27, 2020.
4
business
Pittsburgh planning commisson backs Gainey proposal to expand affordable housing citywide
Belle Vernon's Trevor Kovatch goes to the basket in a game earlier this season. Kovatch has helped the Leopards leapfrog a few teams and move into the No. 2 spot in the Class 4A rankings.
5
sports
High school boys basketball rankings: Belle Vernon storms into No. 2 spot in WPIAL Class 5A
Penn State's Maddie Holmberg approaches the high jump bar during the first day of competition at the Big Ten championships.  (Mark Selders/Penn State Athletics)
Mark Selders/Penn State Athletics
Advertisement
LATEST sports
Advertisement
TOP
Email a Story