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The case for the former:

Powers never envisioned herself as an All-American heptathlete when she arrived at Arizona in 2021. Nobody did.

Powers chose the UA primarily because of academics. She wanted to study a branch of architecture known as . Relatively few colleges offered that major.

Powers also had a聽passion for track and field. She reached out to the UA coaching staff, asking if she could be part of the program.

The answer was yes. But Powers wouldn鈥檛 be a featured performer.

鈥淚 was really just added as a training partner,鈥� Powers said.

She trained with Skyler Sieben, who had recorded the fifth-highest heptathlon point total in UA history that spring. Even as she set personal bests in training and meets, Powers didn鈥檛 achieve anything close to the school record she set this past weekend until the Bryan Clay Invitational two months ago. Her 5,789 points were 78 shy of the UA鈥檚 all-time mark.

鈥淚 genuinely was just here because I had a passion for it,鈥� Powers said. 鈥淚've always been a goal-oriented person, trying to just be a better person than I was yesterday, so that was really my motivation in the heptathlon聽鈥� just trying to better my own PRs.

鈥淎s a freshman, I was hoping maybe one day I would break 5,000 points. Maybe one day ... if I really shot for the stars, I'd be top 10 (at) U of A, which would be 5,300.

鈥淣o one would have ever believed, myself included, maybe any of my teammates or former coaches, that I would be standing here fourth with 6,000 points. It's pretty crazy.鈥�

Powers finished the with 6,008 points 鈥� including a stretch-run kick in the 800 meters that enabled her to fly by several competitors. She set personal bests in five of the seven events and had a season best in another.

No one who knows her well was the least bit surprised.

Powers always has been a high achiever, a hard worker and a tough and determined competitor. She graduated with a 4.0 GPA and posted the same mark while pursuing a master鈥檚 in marketing.

鈥淪he鈥檚 only had one B her whole, entire life,鈥� said Hollan鈥檚 mother, Laura. 鈥淚t about crushed her.鈥�

Dino Dodig, who coaches Arizona鈥檚 multis, once told Powers that she鈥檇 be 鈥渃hronically underpaid for the rest of her life.鈥� If she had a salary of $2 million, Dodig explained, she鈥檇 provide $5 million in value.

鈥淲hatever expectations are put in front of her,鈥� Dodig said, 鈥渟he will always exceed them.鈥�

Powers had a feeling that her performance in Eugene, Oregon, would be special. She invited multiple family members 鈥� mom Laura, sisters Gigi and Jamie and grandpa Mike, aka 鈥淐ap鈥� 鈥� to watch it.

鈥淲e had a whole squad聽out there,鈥� Powers said. 鈥淚t meant everything.鈥�

鈥楶rove them wrong鈥�

The Powers family moved from the Phoenix area to Brentwood, Tennessee, a suburb of Nashville, ahead of Hollan鈥檚 sixth-grade year. The family had roots in Tennessee: Hollan鈥檚 other grandpa, James Sr., had been the , a small town about 65 miles west of Brentwood. He was also the town dentist.

Powers tried out for the middle-school track team and was one of only two sixth-graders to make it. But she was more serious about competitive cheerleading. One problem with that: Hollan would sprout to 5 feet, 10 inches. That meant she had to be a 鈥渂ase.鈥�

鈥淚t鈥檚 not the funnest place to be,鈥� her mother said.

When she tried out for the high school track team as a freshman, Powers caught the attention of a local club coach named . Kinder participated in the 1988 Olympics as a decathlete before getting into coaching.

鈥淗ey, I think you'd be good at this thing called the pentathlon,鈥� Kinder told Powers.

鈥淚 had no idea what he was talking about,鈥� she told me this week. 鈥淏ut I thought I'd give it a shot.鈥�

The pentathlon, typically held indoors, consists of 60-meter hurdles, high jump, long jump, shot put and the 800. The heptathlon expands the hurdles to 100 meters and adds a 200-meter sprint, plus the javelin throw.

As a senior in 2021, Powers powered Brentwood to a . Although she was excelling in track and field and wanted to pursue it in college, academics remained her primary focus when it came to picking a college. So she headed back to Arizona.

By the time Dodig started working with her in 2024, Powers had set many personal bests and eclipsed 5,000 points at the 2023 Jim Click Shootout. But Dodig believed Powers had the potential to do so much more. Others didn鈥檛 share that opinion.

鈥淲hen I got here, I heard a couple of things,鈥� Dodig said. 鈥淪ome people told me she was an extremely hard worker but doesn鈥檛 have the things that are needed to become a future star.

鈥淚 immediately went to her: 鈥楾his is what they think of you. This is now a hit on you and me. We鈥檙e going to take this very personal, and we鈥檙e going to prove them wrong.鈥� 鈥�

Powers needed work on her technique, especially in the events in which she was a relative novice. The javelin was one of them. Chucking a spear felt unnatural to her. It鈥檚 not the sort of thing that comes up often in one鈥檚 day-to-day.

She also needed to get healthy. She鈥檇 been battling an injury to her left foot 鈥� her takeoff foot for the high jump and long jump. The injury limited how much she could practice those disciplines.

After finishing second in the pentathlon at the 2025 Big 12 Indoor Championships, Powers returned home 鈥渁nd her foot was on fire,鈥� Dodig said.

The decision was made to have surgery. Powers missed the '25 outdoor season.

About a year later 鈥� with considerable help from trainer Taylor Webb 鈥� Powers peaked. She finished first in the heptathlon at the Bryan Clay Invitational to qualify for nationals. Then she finished fourth in Eugene to earn first-team All-American honors.

鈥淣inety-nine percent of athletes would not make what she did,鈥� Dodig said. 鈥淚t was too many things to fix in a very short period of time. ... It鈥檚 just so difficult.

鈥淪he鈥檚 a tough girl.鈥�

For Dad

Dodig and Webb could see the pain Powers endured while pushing through that foot issue.

Less visible: Powers鈥� internal anguish while dealing with grief.

Her father, James Jr., died in April 2024. He had suffered from frontotemporal dementia 鈥� 鈥� for about eight years.

鈥淭hat was a very difficult period for all of us because they were so young,鈥� Laura Powers said of her three daughters, who were 15 (Gigi), 14 (Hollan) and 11 (Jamie) when their father was officially diagnosed. 鈥淲e persevered. You have to soldier on.鈥�

One of the ways Hollan coped was to throw herself into the cause. She learned everything she could about dementia. A friend told Hollan about Tucson鈥檚 annual . She became a participant, invited teammates to join her and became an Alzheimer鈥檚 ambassador. (Older sister Gigi is an ambassador, as well.)

Frontotemporal dementia never caused James Jr. to forget who his family members were.

鈥淔or him, it was more so decision-making, kind of getting stuck in situations, not knowing what to do, language processing,鈥� Hollan said. 鈥淗e became very quiet.鈥�

That change in behavior was incredibly frustrating for the Powers family. They were used to James Jr. being 鈥�that guy in the room,鈥� Hollan said. 鈥淭he most social person. That was probably the hardest part.鈥�

I asked Hollan whether it was difficult to be so far away toward the end.

鈥淵es,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 wanted to be close to family. But I also know my dad always told us to follow our dreams. I think he would have been more upset knowing that I didn't do that.鈥�

A little over three weeks after her father died, Hollan posted a personal-best score of 5,432 points in the heptathlon at the Pac-12 Championships.

鈥淢aybe she was out there running for her dad,鈥� Laura Powers said.

Going pro

Hollan鈥檚 grandpa Mike 鈥� a former Naval officer and Delta Airlines pilot; hence the nickname 鈥淐ap鈥� 鈥� has become a father figure for the family, Laura said. He recently helped Hollan assuage some guilt she was feeling about pursuing track professionally while delaying her career in the real world.

Cap鈥檚 advice: You鈥檙e 23 years old. You鈥檝e got plenty of time to become an architect. Your prime as an athlete is right now.

So track will be Powers鈥� track for the foreseeable future. She鈥檚 planning to go to Europe for some hurdling events. The next opportunity to compete in the heptathlon is the USATF Outdoor Championships July 23-26.

Powers will continue to train with Dodig, who believes she has another 400 points in her. If Powers sticks with it, stays healthy (the foot is an ongoing concern) and continues to refine her technique, Dodig thinks can she be an Olympian in 2032.

That鈥檚 a longer timeline than it would take Powers to become a CEO if she joined the workforce, Dodig assured me. He could see that happening within three years.

Despite proving adept at multitasking in college, Powers wants to pour 100% of her time and energy into track.

鈥淚 never really thought this could be something I could do,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut I think it's worth taking a shot on yourself and seeing where it will bring you. I have the opportunity to do so. I think it's worth giving all I got.鈥�