Michigan star sprinter Ziyah Holman takes the hard way in attempt to capture 'best of both worlds'

Michigan sprinter Ziyah Holman is an All-American, three-time Big Ten champion and school record holder. She turned down offers from SEC, Big 12 and Pac-12 schools that, objectively, possess better reputations for track than Michigan does. But that’s because Holman is much more than an All-American, three-time Big Ten champion and school record holder.

“I could see the direction that my peers were going to take, and it was just to put their eggs in one basket, and it was to just focus on track,” Holman said of her recruiting process. “But I went to private school, and education was really instilled in me at a very early age, so I wanted to divide up those eggs and have the best school for track, for education, for resources, for careers — all that stuff.

“Michigan fit a lot of those categories, and that’s why I chose it, because I wanted the best of both worlds in the education realm, the track realm and post-track. So, it was the best school that fit that.”

Michigan has won the Big Ten twice since 2007 (indoor and outdoor in 2016) and has posted a top-10 finish in the NCAAs just once since 2009 (also 2016). But Holman wasn’t concerned about going to a school that doesn’t have an elite track program. It’s a parallel to her high school days at Georgetown Day School in Washington, D.C.

“I personally think you can run fast anywhere,” Holman said. “It’s about how you work, and sometimes kids are not disciplined enough to work hard. That is where we differ.

“I went to a private high school that was not known for track, and I still made it out of there faster than a lot of the girls in my division and country. I always tell people, it’s not about school, it’s about what you’re going to do and the resources that they provide. I had the opportunity to go to a quote-unquote fast high school and be on the national stage very early on, and I wanted my private school education and I said I’m going to make the best at what GDS can give me, and it made a great thing for me.

“It kinda opened the doors. I always tell people it’s not about the school. As long as you work hard, some good will come out of it.”

She’s proven that so far during her Michigan career. She’s also taken advantage of what U-M has to offer in the classroom, in the NIL space and elsewhere, well on the way to achieving the high goals she’s set for herself.

Ziyah Holman laying the foundation for future success

Holman has become a social media influencer, which has taken up more time than she thought it would, but is balancing that well, too, in addition to being a student-athlete and an ambassador for the football program.

She has 106,000 total followers across Instagram (101,000), Twitter (3,400) and TikTok (2,000), and a $94,000 On3 NIL Valuation, which ranks third in college women’s track. The On3 NIL Valuation is the industry’s leading index that sets the standard market NIL value for high school and college athletes. It calculates the optimized NIL opportunity for athletes relative to the overall NIL market and projects out to as long as 12 months into the future.

Holman has made social media posts endorsing Pearson, a company that sells digital textbooks, Urban Outfitters, tennis star Naomi Osaka‘s suncare brand KINLÒ, and others.

“I think Michigan has been great in the NIL sphere,” Holman said. “It’s been great for me, for sure. It’s just helped me get a jump start on my career financially and mentally, physically being able to communicate with brands and start early, build my brand way early and have a different route to my end story. It’s been great.”

With all that NIL success, why does Holman spend her Saturdays doing “odd jobs” for the football program, making $15 per hour working with ticketing, hosting donors and driving around golf carts?

“It’s bigger than just the money,” the Michigan sprinter explained. “It’s the connections you make, and people look at me as a really hard worker and somebody that can balance a lot of things — and be a good person while doing it. So, I really value that job.

“… It just brings you back to the humbleness that I try to embody. You’re never too good for anything. That’s what I do on the weekends, and it’s been pretty fun. It’s been a blessing; I’ve met great people, and I’ve learned great lessons.”

Holman has two more years at Michigan, before she hopes to turn professional.

“I want to be able to have running support my lifestyle for about four years, to make it through an Olympic cycle,” she said.

Holman has already planned out the next step, too. She’s aiming for law school after that, because, why not?

“I think that’s also just a different route to take,” Holman said, sticking with the theme of her career to this point. “There aren’t that many professional athletes or Division I athletes who are also a lawyer.

“I want to try that out and go to law school once I’m finished, and hopefully live my best life as a lawyer, a corporate attorney.”

Holman relishes in challenges, loves overcoming obstacles and is an example to her teammates and peers. Her overall experience at Michigan has been positive, she says, and she’s only building on it.

“I always tell myself, anything worth having is not easy to attain,” Holman said. “It hasn’t been easy. It’s actually been pretty hard to balance everything that I have on my plate, from trying to be a great athlete, a great student, a social media influencer, my job.

“Trying to be great at all those things, it gets to you. But it’s not easy to be the best, and I feel like my story is going to shape itself when I leave here, and I can be proud of that.”

Ziyah Holman’s mentality shift

Holman is entering Michigan’s indoor track season with a different mindset than the previous two years. She’s racked up quite a few accolades during her time, but has more rungs she wants to reach. Earning a national championship is at the top of the list.

“I really had a paradigm shift over the summer, just talking with a lot of my friends,” Holman said. “My goal this year was to just get my confidence back and tell myself what I’m going to do — not what I’m going to try to do.

“Of course, I want to win nationals, but I guess realistically just place top-three indoor nationals. Every day, I tell myself, you’re going to be a national champion one day. It’s already written, and you just have to believe it, you just have to put in the work.

“So, I want to be a national champion. … From the bigger perspective, I want to be on the USA team this summer. That would be my biggest goal, to make the USA team to represent USA on the world stage at the World Championships and achieve after that.”