Three of the greatest athletes in Palmyra High School history gathered at Lucien’s Manor in Berlin on March 29 for a special celebration as Kevin Holloway was inducted into the South Jersey Track and Field Hall of Fame.
“It was a very special moment being inducted into the Hall of Fame,” said Holloway, who was honored along with his mother Mary and his brother Derek, a former pro football player. “I felt a sense of accomplishment and gratitude for being included with so many other great athletes.”
“It was a very special night for my mother,” noted Kevin, class of 1975. “She has long felt that I belonged in the hall of fame and it finally came true with my mother there looking on. She was a great athlete in her own right, and I’m glad I lived up to her expectations.
“It made me very happy.”
“It felt really good to be able to be there to support my brother,” said Derek, class of 1979. “He had an outstanding track career. I just wondered what took so long.”
One of Palmyra fastest runners ever, Kevin ran the 100-yard dash in 9.7 seconds, the 220-yard dash in 21.1 seconds and the 440-yard dash in 51.4 seconds. He also played football, basketball and baseball. That got him a full track-and-field scholarship to Indiana University Bloomington, where he ran the 100 and 200 meters and the 4×100 and 4×400 meter relays.
Kevin recounted honing his skills under the tutelage of legendary coach Osa Meekins, who also guided Mary and Derek.
“It was very inspirational being coached by Osa Meekins,” he reflected. “He coached so many great athletes in Palmyra. He taught us the fundamentals of how to play the sports we participated in and how to be good sportsmen.”
For Derek, Meekins was “the greatest influence.”
“… That’s where the football success all started,” he related. “Coach Meekins taught me how to be a winner and also give and do my best no matter what the outcome.”
Derek was a receiver and kick returner in the United States Football League (USFL), the NFL, the Canadian Football League, the Arena League and the World League of American Football.
Mary Holloway was a star field hockey player at Palmyra High and a key contributor to the 1952 team that had a perfect 12-0 record and won the first girls’ sports championship in school history. She was also a great softball pitcher who played on the Majestics – a team coached by Meekins.
At the hall of fame celebration, the South Jersey Track Coaches Association also inducted Damiere Byrd, Jason Boyd, Brian Gallagher, Tony Hall, Levin Handy, Bill Hoover, Scot McCray, Chris Mirabelli, Kenny Reynolds and the 2002–’03 Mainland Cross Country teams.
“The lessons I learned growing up in a tight-knit community were to work hard, play fair and never give up on your dreams,” recalled Kevin, who now lives in Florida and has been a college recruiter for several schools in the last 38 years.
He has many favorite memories of the “many amazing athletes from Palmyra,” from the late Glenn Cooper taking the baton at the South Jersey relays to put his team in a position to finish in the top 10, to Ricky Burroughs taking down Mainland High on offense as quarterback and linebacker, to watching the hard work of Osa Meekins’ son Billy every day in practice.
Kevin also remembered how Derek learned “to run so fast trying to catch me.” The younger brother admired the older.
“Watching him made me want to do bigger and better,” Derek explained. “My brother was a big influence on my career. “We did not have a sibling rivalry, because when I entered high school, he was leaving. So watching him compete was motivation that if he did it, then I could do it as well.”
Derek now lives in Houston and is the admissions advisor for the Aviation Institute of Maintenance.
“Growing up in Palmyra was fun,” he reminisced. “I learned how to be tough and learned a lot of life skills. We played tackle sandlot football with no pads and played touch football in the streets. I also grew up watching guys like Danky Fitzgerald, Wayne Cauthorne, the Coopers, Bill Meekins, Ricky Burroughs and more.
“They paved the way for me to be able to excel.”
Derek was the star running back on a high-school football team that finished with a 10-1 record and won the 1978 South Jersey Group One championship with a crushing, 38-0 win over Florence. In one game that season, Derek gained 323 yards and scored three touchdowns, leading the entire state in scoring with 188 points.
Without the entire team it would not have happened, Derek emphasized, citing Rayfield Zeigler, Warren McGee, Butch Birkhead, Willie Mahan, Dave Primavera, Ken Reed, Bobby Brown, Jeff Adams, Bill Wallace and Ali Witherspoon.
And while the brothers excelled, their mom was there every step of the way.
“My mom was my number-one fan and supporter and encouraged me to do my best,” Kevin emphasized. “She let the coaches do the coaching.”
Same for Derek.
“Without her being there and supporting me through every little-league game and every high school, college and professional game,” he said, his football career would not have been possible.
Derek attended the University of Arkansas and his favorite memories were scoring a touchdown against Houston on a kickoff return and playing in the Gator Bowl, where he had five receptions for 166 yards and a touchdown. “It was exciting playing for (renowned college football coach) Lou Holtz, because you never knew what was coming next.”
As a professional, Derek’s biggest highlight was scoring the first and second touchdowns in the first USFL championship game for the Michigan Panthers, where his team beat the Philadelphia Stars.
“Another highlight was when the league folded, getting picked up by Washington and actually suiting up walking on the field as an NFL player,” he relayed. “Then there’s always a highlight when you win any kind of championship, which I also did with the Detroit Drive of the Arena Football League.”
The hall of fame induction was a night for a mother and her two sons to relive their glory days in Palmyra.
Derek Holloway (left to right) and Mary Austin Holloway enjoy Kevin Holloway’s induction into the South Jersey Track and Field Hall of Fame on March 29.
