Josef Holt-Andrews had Saturday circled on his calendar for a while.
Now the senior runner from Telstar Regional High School will have plenty of positive memories from Saturday’s event etched in his mind for years to come.
Holt-Andrews hung with the lead pack for better than two miles and catapulted past Alex Ostberg of Darien High School of Connecticut with a final sprint to capture 10th place at the Foot Locker National Cross Country Championships in San Diego, earning All-America status.
“That was kind of the goal, I was hoping for the best I could,” Holt-Andrews said, “but top 10 was the overall goal.”
The race pitted 10 runners from each of four regions against one another at Morley Field in Balboa Park.
“It went out nice,” Holt-Andrews said. “We were pretty much all together through the first two miles, and then it kind of broke away after two-and-a-quarter and I couldn’t hang on. But I managed to keep grinding and put in a little surge at the end to pass one guy and get in the top 10.”
That “one guy,” Ostberg, had finished ahead of Holt-Andrews at the Northeast regional.
Holt-Andrews was the second finisher from the Northeast region, behind Mickey Burke of Rush Henrietta High School in Henrietta, N.Y.
“I’m not worried about the time mostly, just about the place,” Holt-Andrews said. “I feel like, I would have liked a little faster, but, it is what it is now.”
His time of 15 minutes, 30 seconds was only 23 off the pace of race winner Grant Fisher of Michigan.
“My coach (Dan Crooker) made sure I didn’t peak too early and that I was going to be ready for today,” Holt-Andrews said. “I didn’t really taper at all through states or anything like that, which helped a lot.
“This is a really long season, especially in Maine because we get started so early,” Holt-Andrews added. “Our season’s really short compared to schools in like California or something. So it’s definitely hard balancing certain workouts and making sure you’re not in too good a shape early so you don’t run well at meets like this.”
Holt-Andrews was part of an impressive contingent of three Maine runners at this year’s event. Daniel Curts of Ellsworth finished 19th overall in 15:44, while in the girls’ race, Greely High School’s Kirstin Sandreuter placed 20th in 18:08.
The runners from Maine were running out of their element, too — it was warm outside.
“It didn’t bother me too much, I actually enjoy some heat,” Holt-Andrews said. “But it definitely messed with my body a little bit. After the race, I had a pretty good headache and stuff.
“My body noticed it, but mentally it didn’t affect me at all.”
After his performance, Holt-Andrews had a chance to reflect a bit on his accomplishment, and he had time to think about his next step.
“A few days off,” Holt-Andrews said with a laugh. “After that, I’ll probably target a few big meets during indoor track, and then try to hit indoor nationals. And then my big goal in outdoor track, and probably my final big goal in high school is outdoor nationals.”
Now in his final year at Telstar, Holt-Andrews hasn’t yet committed to a college.
“I’ve been talking to a couple schools pretty heavily,” Holt-Andrews said. “This should open up a few more opportunities.”
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