Holt Runs Fastest Two-Mile In Hinsdale's History

In 2020, a nervous freshman entered the halls of Hinsdale High School. Zora Rose Holt had received her kindergarten to eighth grade education at home school, a one-room school, and even an exciting quarter in an elementary school in the Czech Republic, so Hinsdale felt big, foreign, and overwhelming. She was taken under the wing of the great Kaitlyn McColly, a familiar face from the 4-H club she'd belonged to since she was seven. It will come as no surprise to anyone that one of the things Kaitlyn instilled in Zora was a love of sporting competition. At the first track meet of her entire life, Zora scratched a long jump, ran a two-mile, and caught the distance bug. Soon she had set her sights on breaking Hinsdale's two-mile record, long held by Nancy See. Zora was determined that before she graduated, her name would be on the same board her mother's had been, over 30 years before.

How realistic was it? Well, the record was 12:53.2. As a freshman, Zora ran two 15-minute races, nine 14-minute races, and two 13.5 plus-minute races. Her fastest time was over 44 ½ seconds from the record. A fast distance lap takes about a minute and a half, and she would need to run every one of the eight laps over five and a half seconds faster.

Zora was fifth in four of those races, including the most important race of her year, when she gave everything she had to qualify for State. She will never forget Kaitlyn running away from the event she was in the middle of (doubtless winning), onto the track with the race still technically in progress, and swinging Zora over her head in celebration. That meant that Kaitlyn was not the only girl from Hinsdale to compete at State Track that year. It meant getting to share a hotel room with Kaitlyn for lots of last-second wisdom before Kaitlyn moved on to the next chapter in her life. It meant the thrill of running 16th in the State Two-Mile. And it meant sharing the podium when Kaitlyn single-handedly won the second place Class C State trophy for Hinsdale Girls' Track and Field, their only State hardware.

As a sophomore, Zora ran another fifth-place race, and chipped 32.28 seconds off her best time in a heart-breaker that saw her missing a second trip to State by two tenths of a second. That was the year it was decided that six places from Eastern C should go to State in the future, because Eastern C had eight girls in the top 20, including Zora, while Northern had seven, Western had four, and Southern had one. The other three Divisions combined were only able to field seven girls faster than Zora, but Eastern C's smaller schools meant that they were allowed fewer State competitors than the other Divisions. That year, Zora ran a 15-minute race, a 14-minute race, two 13.5 plus-minute races, and two less-than-13.5-minute races.

As a junior, Zora ran two 14-minute races, two 13.5 plus-minute races, and three less-than-13.5-minute races. Her fastest time was still 20.5 seconds from the record. Was the dream a possibility, or was it only a dream? Girl distance runners can peak before their senior year. Maybe she had achieved all that her body had to give. She ran another fifth place to go to State, knowing that this year the girl behind her would go as well. At State, she placed 13th, her ranking from the year before when she wasn't allowed to run.

Senior year started encouragingly with Cross County. In her first race, Zora received her first ever medal in Cross County-a highly symbolic fifth place. It was quickly followed by another fifth, a thrilling second, and finally, a twelfth place State Class C medal.

When track started, there were three races at less than 13.5 minutes, every one of them between the times of her second and third fastest junior-year races and her first and second fastest sophomore-year races. Then, finally, April 29, it happened. At the 42nd Annual Norm Girard Top Ten Track Meet in Glasgow, the same Top Ten on the same track her mother ran (much more slowly) almost 35 years before, with four of the six track coaches she's had through her high school career beside the track screaming, "You've got the record, go for it!" Zora finally fulfilled her dream of running the fastest girl's two-mile in Hinsdale's history. The new record is a 12:37.95; 15.25 seconds faster than the old record, 27.43 seconds faster than Zora had ever run before in her life. There are only four medals in the Norm Girard Top Ten meet, but Zora was the happiest fifth-place-finisher at the entire meet that night. Kaitlyn was the recipient of the first ecstatic e-mail.