Holt Hits NAIA Standard for Decathlon
New Concord, Ohio--Landon Holt on Sunday scored 5,852 points in the decathlon to meet the NAIA national "B" standard, becoming the second Brescia University track and field athlete to qualify for the NAIA national championships and first since Matt Lowe qualified in 2013. Holt, a junior social work major from Dawson Springs, Ky. (Caldwell County High School), finished third in a field of primarily NCAA competitors at the All-Ohio Multi Event championships hosted by Muskingum University.
"It was a daunting task at first, but once I settled in and started competing in the events I've been preparing for over the last few weeks, it became more comfortable. Once I started racking up some points, things started clicking and I became more comfortable. Right now, I'm exhausted, but I'm happy with how it went.
Holt said meeting a national mark was a longstanding goal.
"It feels awesome," Holt said. "It's something I've hoped for ever since I signed with Brescia, and hopefully as the season continues, I can qualify in a couple more events."
En route to his qualifying mark, Holt broke five school records and two meet records. Decathletes compete in ten running, jumping and throwing events across two days. Landon bested his own school record in the 100- and 400-meter dashes and set new marks in the 110-meter high hurdles and pole vault, as well as setting the school mark in the decathlon.
Brescia Head Track and Field Coach Luke Stoffel said the performance was an accomplishment but also a starting point.
"I'm excited about it. There were some solid marks, and Landon has several performances in field events that are just scratching the surface of what he's capable of, so next time he competes there's a chance to improve a good deal.
Stoffel said he's looking forward to seeing what the remainder of the season brings for Holt.
Stoffel said he was particularly pleased with the way Holt competed at 1,500 meters. The final event of the decathlon, that race was the furthest from the Holt's comfort zone—his primary events are sprints and jumps—but Stoffel said Holt might get a look in that event in the upcoming River States Conference Championships.
"He may have earned a spot with our distance group," Stoffel said.
The weekend's contest was Holt's first career decathlon, and Brescia sprint, jump, and multi-events coach Brooks Rexroat said he handled the test with skill and poise.
"Landon showed a perfect demeanor across the event, which is hard to do: he kept calm during success and quickly brushed off the couple of small setbacks he encountered," Rexroat said. "His running performances exceeded our expectations, and we saw growth and a building confidence as the field events pressed on. This was a steady performance, something he can build on in the coming weeks and Landon has placed himself in the national conversation."
On Saturday, Holt started the competition by besting his own BU school record mark to finish the 100-meter dash in 11.16 seconds, breaking by two-tenths of a second the meet record. Thirty minutes later, he notched a season-best mark of 6.10 meters (20'1") in the long jump. He recorded a shot-put mark of 9.31 meters and high jumped 1.68 meters before launching out to a commanding lead in the 400-meter dash. Otterbein University's Mackenzie Conlon closed hard on the homestretch, but Holt held him off to lower the BU record he set two weeks ago at the Transylvania Invitational. Holt and Conlon both finished under the previous meet-record mark of 50.16 seconds.
Those performances allowed Holt to close out day one in third place with 3,242 points.
Sunday morning, he picked up where he left off, finishing the 110-meter high hurdles in 16.01 seconds to finish second in the field. Holt last ran the race competitively in high school.
Holt hurled the discus 25.92 meters (85 feet), then cleared 3.04 meters (9'11.75") in his first career pole vault attempt.
In the meet's final field event, Holt launched the javelin 37.46 meters (122 feet)
Bearcat throws coach Nathan Sparks said he thought Holt overperformed in the shot put based on recent practice, and his expected marks in the discus and javelin.
"For someone who hasn't had a great deal of time and training to focus on some events that are incredibly technical, there' some real potential for improvement."
In the meet's final contest, the1,500-meter run, Holt again battled with Conlon. Holding steady in second place for much of the race, Holt surged ahead in the last 300 meters to win the race for Holt's third event win of the meet in 4:33.
Sparks, who competed collegiately in distance races, said he was particularly happy with Holt's 1,500 meter performance.
"He hit his ideal splits really well, ran with who he needed to ran with, and looked very comfortable for the first 1,000 meters," Sparks said. "He really hammered down when he needed to."
The 2019 NAIA National Championship meet will be held May 24-26 in Gulf Shores, Alabama. Holt and his BU track and field squad return to action Saturday at the Bellarmine Classic in Louisville.