Former St. Thomas Aquinas hurdler and long jumper Eddiyah Frye voted Florida Miss Track
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Disrespect is a bitter pill that is hard to swallow. The feeling is worse for athletes who are almost always under pressure to succeed. Former St. Thomas Aquinas track runner Eddiyah Frye, who goes by the moniker ‘Dada’, was voted Florida Dairy Farmers’ Miss Track in June but she had to work hard to earn that respect. When Frye first went to Virginia, she was disrespected.
“That is how I felt watching the first video. The first girls, U.S. number 1 and U.S. number 2, and I’m U.S. number 3. They give it to U.S. number 4,” Frye said referring to the competition in Virginia. “Going in, I was the underdog. Nobody’s worrying about Eddiyah Frye. They’re even going into finals and nobody is paying attention to Lane 7.”
Frye protested in the most remarkable way by not only finishing first in the 55-feet hurdles but also coming in at 7.81 which was a record time at that time, making her the best under-20 hurdler worldwide.
Surprisingly, Frye did not have hurdling in her bucket list while growing up. She was only influenced from watching her brother train with their dad and coach.
“Originally, I wasn’t really interested in track. My brother used to have practice at the high school. I was 3 going on 4 at that time. Watching him practice with my dad got me jealous because my brother always got to do stuff, like he always had different practices,” she said. “My dad went up to the coach and they had private conversation. Of course, I was too little to understand. I was just staring there. Then, the next day, he [my dad] was like I want you to wear your sneakers today and he made me to practice with them.”
She did not like it at first because she wasn’t used to wearing sneakers in the first place—but there were other reasons.
“I was not happy at all because track was not in my schedule at that time. But then eventually I grew to like it and then grew to love it. I started [at No.] 815 but I always did the long jump,” she continued.
Even after growing to love the game, she still didn’t take it seriously. Perhaps, this was because she didn’t even know how good she was.
“When I started taking it serious was when people would tell my dad we drove here to race your daughter. Even the 800 [meter] and the hurdles, people would do the same thing. The winning and comparing stats showed me how good I was at the sport,” she said.
With the St. Thomas Aquinas’ Raiders, Frye became unstoppable. She once paired with another senior, Alexia Glasco, to win the Regional 4-4A meet at Tropical Park. Furthermore, she leaped 19-3.25 to beat her nearest competitor by a margin of 11 inches at the long jump. She also finished top at the BCAA County Championships.
“This has been my best year and I’m looking forward to states next week,” she said. “It will be super special to compete in three events at states. I’m super thankful for my coaches helping me to get this far.”
The crowning of Frye’s career at St. Thomas Aquinas was being voted Florida Dairy Farmers’ Miss Track. This was not far from her contribution in helping the Raiders to with their third straight Florida High School Athletic Association state girls’ track and field title.
“Florida is a really competitive state and they could have given that title to anyone, not just me,” Frye said in reference to her Miss Track title. “There are plenty of great sprinters. For me to be awarded that type of title it’s like I really proved myself this season.”
She did prove herself as no underdog at the FHSAA by winning the long jump (19-feet, 3.75 inches), the 100-meter hurdles (13.53), and coming fourth in the 300-meter hurdles (44.29). There is no better way to describe leaving on a high note.
“This year was super important for us,” she said. “I am glad everything fell into place and I can finally rest. We had that drive because we missed out on last year and we wanted to leave our mark.”
Frye recently ran a personal record of 13.1 in the Louie Bing Memorial Classic 100-meter hurdles. With her eyes set on the 2024 Paris Olympics, her father Eddie, who also doubles, as her tutor believes she has all it takes to compete at that level.
“We are never satisfied.” Eddie said. “I know I’m not, until she gives me and her mother a ticket to the Olympics. I’ll say, ‘You know what? It was well worth it’.”
Frye is currently enrolled at Georgia where she is beginning her collegiate track career and there is no doubt that she will shine there too. However, she knows that it will not happen overnight.
“I definitely have to lower my times. I am not putting too much pressure on myself. Just better my mark and then we can focus on winning.”
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