Milestat.com link: http://va.milesplit.com/articles/177013-marshalls-heather-holt-wins-girls-5a-1600-in-record-time
 |
| Heather Holt is on track to break the 5-minute mile soon, and she's just a sophomore! (Photo by Mary Ann Magnant) |
Marshall’s Heather
Holt continued her assault on the sub-5 minute mile while winning the 5A girls
title on Saturday.
Holt, a
sophomore, burned up the Boo Williams oval to clock a 5:01.74, good enough to
overtake Princess Anne’s Doria Martingayle by almost four seconds. It was also
Holt’s best time since her 5:05 at the Cassel’s XBC Track Experience late last
April.
Later in the
day, Holt also placed third in the 1000 with a 3:03.04 effort.
At this rate, it
shouldn’t be long before the Stateswoman breaks the five-minute barrier.
“I’m learning as
I go along,” admits Holt, who was a self-proclaimed soccer player before turning
her full attention to cross-country and track after her freshman year.
Not that she was
a lagging runner before. As a ninth-grader, Holt also won the 5A girls indoor state
1600, with a somewhat slower time of 5:10.82. She also doubled at last year’s
indoor state meet with the 3200 and said that “it was not my best race.” In
fact, her time of 11:51 was considerably slower than the 11:14 she ran this
season in a December quad meet.
So, what’s the
difference now that soccer is out?
“It’s easier to
get to practice,” says Holt. Last year, I’d go straight from soccer to track
practice, and because I had to do two sports, I’d go easier at track practice.
Now, I have more days to keep running.”
And her running
regimen is solid, with distance days of 7-8 miles, while her track days usually
end up with 5-6 miles of running.
Holt also speaks
well of her coach, Darrell General, who for years was a staple of the D.C. area
road racing circuits, winning the Marine Corps Marathon in 1995 and 1997.
“He’s (General)
amazing,” adds Holt. “He gives us a lot of support. He can memorize everybody’s
time even before we know what to do. He’s always available – you can always
reach him.”
Being a
teenager, Holt wasn’t initially aware of her coach’s athletic reputation.
“People know him. Everywhere I go, even the grocery store, people see my
Marshall track shirt and ask if he’s my coach.”
While her 5:01
is not quite a New Balance National elite time, Holt is happy to have qualified
for “some emerging elite meets.” But she adds, “spring track is coming up
soon.”
And with the
dawn of spring comes new goals. “We trying to run a DMR (distance medley) at
Penn (Relays). We went last year, but didn’t do as well as hoped. But I’m glad
we got the experience. Now that we’ve been there, we know what to expect.”
No comments:
Post a Comment