##M:[more]##Holland Thomas has a shirt that says all you need to know about her: “Reach Higher.”
It is this philosophy that has propelled her to becoming the best runner in the history of the Knights track program. “When you get something, you can’t just be happy with that and stop. You have to keep trying to do better, just keep trying to reach higher.”
That’s all she’s done for the past four years. “Every team has a turning point where one person sets the bar higher and enables future athletes to better themselves. For North, that’s what Holland has done,” says Brian Gould, who has coached Thomas in indoor track since her freshman year.
“She has a fire in her. She has a strong desire to be the best in whatever she does, and she is never satisfied with anything less than her best,” says Gould. “I have seen her run a personal best and finish second and be angry that she didn’t win. Even this year, with all her success, she is still driven to improve more.”
Her success this year includes a gold medal in the 55 hurdles at the Mercer County Championships and at the New Jersey Division III championship meet in February. She placed third overall at the Meet of Champions.
What makes her accomplishments all the more impressive is that even in winning, she exceeded expectations. She was seeded fourth in the state, and managed to medal at the MOC. She was seeded second in the Group III meet, and won it all. She was favored to win in Mercer County, and in doing so, she set a personal best, and a school record.
According to Gould, all her individual accomplishments mean less to the runner than the team’s success. “The team decided going in to the Mercer County meet that they wanted to see how high they could go as a team, everyone ran all the events they could, and Holland sacrificed herself and ran four races. She set three school records.”
Thomas is now in the school’s record books for the 55 hurdles and the 400 meter run as an individual, in addition to running the anchor leg of the of the record-setting 4 x 400 relay team. She failed to set the record in the 55 meter dash that day—she missed it by hundredths of a second.
Thomas is still undecided about which school she will attend next year. Gould says she’s been highly recruited, and she has been offered full scholarships by more than one school. She is considering the University of Houston, Mississippi, Rutgers, and Memphis. “She’s got some pretty big schools on her list,” says Gould. “I’ve talked to the coach at the University of Memphis, and he talked about rebuilding his entire sprint program around her. The fact that as a freshman, she’d be a cornerstone to rebuild a division I program is a testament to her ability.”
Thomas was a standout scorer on the field hockey team last fall, and she practices tae kwon do outside of school. The spring track will bring more opportunities for Holland to set new school records. In place of the 55 yard dash, she’ll run the 100 and the 200. In hurdles, she’ll run the 100 and 400. Thomas prefers it that way. She sees the longer races as a better way to judge a runner’s speed. “I like the 100 meter sprint and hurdles better because I’m not as good with starts,” says Thomas, who will also compete in the long jump.
In every event in every meet, be assured that Holland Thomas will “Reach Higher.”
