In such a competitive program, it’s always difficult to see a student shine amongst the rest. It takes a lot of dedication, a lot of skill, a lot of hard work, and it’s certainly easier said than done. Once in a while, you’ll see a student who excels in every category – and in the record books. At Manville High School, that’s Nia Hunter.

If her achievement of June Athlete of the Month isn’t enough to convince you, just take a look at her records. She currently holds the Manville High School record in all three girls sprinting events – the 100, the 200, and the 400. In fact, every time she sets her own personal record in each event, it’s a new school record.

“I broke the record for the 4×4 my freshman year; my sophomore year I broke the 200 record. This year I broke the 100, and the 400, and the 200. I broke my own record this year. Every time I PR from now on it’s just going to be another record.“

Having a good relationship with your coaches can heavily affect who you are as an athlete. In Nia’s case, her bond with her coaches is stronger than anything. “I look at Baker like a mom, and Gorb, I don’t want to say like a dad but he’s just, he’s a.. I’ve got a good bond with both of them. I could literally have a whole conversation with both of them for an hour and not get bored.” This allows her to trust them as coaches, making sure they get the most out of her as an athlete. Without them, she acknowledges she wouldn’t be the same athlete she is today.

“I really just go by Baker and Gorb’s training, like everyday, they have a certain plan for us and I go by that plan, because I wouldn’t really know what to do if they weren’t there.”

“They know exactly how my body works and they know what I’m good at so they know what I can handle.”

Despite the expectations and the spotlight on her, Nia does not let it get to her head. “The pressure, it makes it more fun for me. I think that because everybody assumes that I’m gonna beat somebody in the race, I’ll do it. I’ll try to do it.” Nia loves to compete, and she understands that once it comes late in the season, her competition gets tougher. “I don’t always win, it’s just, I’ll win at these dual meets because it’s only a couple teams we go against, but at big meets I go up against people (with) my times. I can’t always get first place, people assume I can win every time.”

Nia Hunter still has her whole senior year to compete, meaning she still has time to improve and set more records, along with pushing herself even further. “My freshman and sophomore year I got to groups, this year I got to groups and made it to finals, so the only step from now on is to go to MOC’s.”

From start to finish, Nia’s track season has been an absolute success. Her career with Manville High School isn’t over yet, and she’s hoping that her senior year turns out even better than this season. We would like to congratulate Nia Hunter on an absolutely well deserved Athlete of the Month award for June, and we hope to see her high school record times go down even further!