Look past Holland's Madalyn Daniels and she will race past in a flash

When Madalyn Daniels steps into the blocks, she is already ahead of the field.

The Holland senior has heard the comments about being short (not much taller than 5 feet) and not having a chance against many of the long-legged sprinters.

Then the gun goes off and everything changes.

Despite having to run nearly 1 1/2 times as many strides as some of her competitors, Daniels is out quick and uses her strength and speed to cross the finish line first.

"Yes, I have heard (the chatter). There has been some talk before races, but I know that my work will speak for me," she said.

Daniels raced to the OK Green Conference championship in the 100 meters and was second in the 200 meters as she looks to qualify for the state finals in both events on Friday at the Division 1 regional meet at Grand Haven.

"(I think she definitely gets overlooked)," Holland coach Mary Busscher said. "You don't see her in the crowd until she breaks away and takes the lead - then you see her."

And it is too late.

"It just comes down to putting in the work. I don't think height really matters, but it is a mental game.I have to work on my strides and I try to focus on that. So far they are there when I need them," Daniels said. "The biggest part for me is my stride and endurance. I have to push through and push harder."

Daniels won the 100 meters in 12.86.

"Usually I just care about beating my times, but I knew winning was in reach and I just needed to believe in myself because all of my hard work has led me here," Daniels said.

That hard work reached a new level last year when she qualified for state.

"That really made me feel the most confident and that I had what it took to continue to do track in college. I had a really bad sophomore season and after I made that state cut, I realzied I had more in me," she said. "It was a lot consistency and working through my self doubts."

Now, Daniels is preparing for a college career at Davenport, an NCAA Division II program in Caledonia.

"It is a really good encouragement, especially now that I am signing on to do college track at Davenport.I really liked the atmosphere of the team. They were super kind and welcoming, and I know the coach can push me," she said.

And no one will be taking her for granted.

Contact sports editor Dan D’Addona at Dan.D’Addona@hollandsentinel.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter @DanDAddona or Facebook @HollandSentinelSports.