TARA HOLLOWELL
- mercertrackhall
- Sep 20, 2025
- 1 min read
Updated: Sep 26, 2025
Trenton Central -- Thrower
The first Mercer County girl to win Meet of Champions titles in two different throwing events, Trenton’s Tara Hollowell was a fierce competitor who can best be described as a champion among champions.
During her stunning reign from 1993-95, Hollowell earned three Group IV state titles and earned four All-State berths (two in 1994 and two in 1995; twice each in the shot put and discus). Following in the footsteps of perennial powerhouses Christine Williams and Lisa Morris, Hollowell incredibly managed to take Trenton’s already powerful throwing teams to another level.
But for all those feats, one moment stands above the rest, an effort basked in drama that stands as one of the most clutch performances by a Mercer County thrower.
The date was Thursday, April 27, 1995. In front of a packed house at Philadelphia’s Franklin Field, Hollowell trailed archrival Typhanie Bates of Williamstown going into the final shot put throw at the Penn Relays. At this moment of pressure and battling a stomach virus, Hollowell uncorked a throw of 41-9 ¼ to best Bates by ¾ of an inch, good enough for not only the title but the sixth consecutive New Jersey girl to bring home the crown.
With that effort, Hollowell (who won the All-Group title in the shot put in 1994 and All-Group discus in 1995) became the first Trenton High girl to win a Penn Relays title, an appropriate distinction for one of Mercer County’s greatest throwers.
