It did not take Brian Holdmeyer long to adjust to the outdoor track and field season. Or the 10,000-meter run, for that matter.
On Friday, March 28, the freshman met the 10,000-meter qualifying standard for the 2008 USA Junior Outdoor Track and Field Championships at the Washington University Invitational.
Holdmeyer, completing the 10K race for the first time in his collegiate career, finished in 32:06.96, smashing the qualifying time of 32:45.
“It was a smaller race, only about eight to 10 runners, and we were racing at night,” Holdmeyer said. “My goal was to go out and run the splits I was supposed to hit.”
For the first four miles of the six-mile race, Holdmeyer’s opponents ran similar splits, allowing him to tuck in behind them. With two miles left, Holdmeyer took the lead and did not look back.
“It’s a really high-level meet, and he’s going to line up against people from top running schools,” head coach Jonathan Bell said about the USA Junior Championships. “Anytime you have an athlete qualify for a national championship, it’s an exciting time; it’s going to be something he’s not going to forget.”
Two benefits Holdmeyer will take from the Junior Championships are national exposure and a chance to compete against top runners in the nation that he would not typically see within the Atlantic 10 Conference.
“It’s just going to be great because, no matter what, I have that in my pocket waiting for me until the end of the season,” Holdmeyer said. “Until then, I’ll keep moving ahead with what I’m doing in training and competing.”
Holdmeyer attributes most of his success to Tim Bradley, assistant men’s track and field coach. As the distance coach who works with Holdmeyer on a daily basis, Bradley stresses the need for both physical and mental strength, according to Bell.
“The 10K hurts a lot,” Bell said. “There’s a point in the race, and its going to happen to everybody, where you have to make a decision either to keep running fast or to slow down. That’s what Coach Bradley has been working on with [Holdmeyer].”
Now that Holdmeyer has accomplished goal No. 1 in qualifying for Ohio State, Bell said it is on to goal No. 2: a World Junior Championships qualifying time: 31.00. The freshman would need to shave off more than a minute from his current time to be considered.
As for training in the coming weeks, Bell expects to keep Holdmeyer’s mileage high and have “harder workouts than [Holdmeyer] has ever done before.” Holdmeyer has 12 weeks to prepare before the starting gun sounds on June 21.
“Qualifying for the USA Juniors is a testament to his work ethic,” Bell said. “He does everything the right way, and he’s always asking to do more. The race in June has an atmosphere unlike any other, and it’s a great time for his career.”
