June 11, 2021
At a lifting session in the winter of his senior year, Yahya Madar ’19 wrote 6’10 in black sharpie on a piece of recycled paper and taped it to the wall in MPA’s weight room. 6’10 represented his goal for the high jump during that spring’s track and field season. It would require him to jump four inches higher than he ever had before, an unlikely possibility, but one that, with a herculean training and effort throughout the season, and a championship performance when it counted, was possible.
On June 8, 2019, after a season and a career of tremendous dedication, and on the same he graduated high school, Madar’s 6’10 goal came to fruition at the MSHSL class A state championships. He tied the class A state meet record, which had stood since 1982, on his way to winning the state championship. It was the 13th highest high school high jump in the country that year.
Madar came to MPA a few weeks into his ninth grade year and immediately joined the basketball team, first showing coaches and teammates his natural leaping ability. As a sophomore, Madar played JV basketball and decided to give track and field a try. Despite his rudimentary form and fasting during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, Madar cleared 6’2 and qualified for the state meet, placing 11th.
As a junior, Madar took off. A varsity basketball player, he earned IMAC all-conference honors and led the Panthers to the section 4A championship game, their deepest playoff trip in school history, scoring 24 points in the double overtime section semifinals upset of second ranked Prairie Seeds Academy. Despite injuring his ankle at the end of the section championship game and missing the first part of the track and field season, Madar returned with a vengeance, winning the conference and section championships in the high jump and placing fourth at the state meet.
As a senior, Madar put up 41 points in a basketball game, breaking the single game Panther’s scoring record and earned IMAC all-conference honorable mention honors. His senior track and field season started slowly, but Madar did qualify and compete in the prestigious Hamline Elite Meet, placing fourth against class A and AA competition. Then, at the section true team meet, he had a breakthrough, clearing 6’7, and a week later, set the section 4A record with a jump of 6’8. And then it was on to state and 6’10.
“MPA athletics is very unique in the sense that it allows you to experiment and explore different sports without feeling over pressured to perform. It’s helped me be more confident in track and field because of the supportive and community oriented environment,” Madar says. “MPA prepared me for the mental aspect of sports, which is just as important as the actual performance.”
After taking a year to complete general classes, Madar committed to the University of Minnesota, becoming MPA track and field’s fourth Division I athlete since 2011. In his first year, Madar competed in both indoor and outdoor track and field. Indoors, he placed fourth at the Husker triangular and second at the Hawkeye Border Battle. Outdoors, he won the M City Classic, placed second at the Big Ten Indiana Invite, and qualified for the Big Ten Championships, placing 13th.
“I am loving my time at the University of Minnesota, especially being part of the track and field team. It is a little different obviously due to COVID and a majority of my classes being online, but being a part of the team makes up for it. I’ve met so many different kinds of people and have really made it a goal to meet as many people as I can,” he says.
Madar is majoring in psychology and plans to pursue medical or dental school.
