Cross Country, Track
Favorite athlete: Jenny Simpson
Favorite team: USWNT
Favorite memory competing in sports: Qualifying for outdoor states in the 4x4 last year.
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: Indoor track my sophomore year I sat in throw up at a Friday night Lehigh meet. I had just put my sweats on after my race, and I sat right where someone puked. As soon as I sat down, I realized something wasn’t right. It was a terrible feeling, but luckily, I had an extra pair of pants. Until I changed, everyone kept telling me that I smelled really bad.
Music on iPod: Everything
Future plans: I will be attending Lafayette College and running track/cross country.
Words to live by: “Life is 10 percent what happens to me and 90 percent of how I react to it.” –Charles Swindoll
One goal before turning 30: Run a marathon
One thing people don’t know about me: I really, really, really like donuts!
By GORDON GLANTZ
Two springs ago, Upper Dublin track coach Matthew Dwyer was considering ways to send a message to his team.
After observing the attitude and work habits of Marissa Holl, he made a simple yet poignant choice
“I chose the captains,” said Upper Dublin track Matthew Dwyer. “Marissa displayed the determination and fortitude of a true leader as a freshman. Her freshman year was my second year coaching at Upper Dublin. I knew that I needed to send a message to the team that it doesn’t matter how young or old you are, you can lead this team. For that reason, I named her a captain the following year (sophomore year). And Marissa has been our leader for the past three years.”
Holl, the now Lafayette-bound senior and Univest Female Featured Athlete of the Week, said she completely understood the choice.
That didn’t mean she found the role easy.
“Not many people stood out (as leaders), and he noticed,” she explained. “But I wasn’t very vocal. I was a bit quiet and afraid as a sophomore.”
But as the seasons passed, Holl – who also served as the captain of the cross-country team this past fall – found her style.
“I knew if I kept doing the right thing, I could start telling people to do the right thing,” she said.
And as far as Dwyer is concerned, Holl has more than upheld her end of the bargain.
“Marissa is a phenomenal leader and teammate,” he said. “She is an excellent student with great character. She has a very rigorous schedule in the classroom. On the track, she is a phenomenal runner and even better teammate.
“She helped to lead our 4x4 to the outdoor state meet last year. She led our 4x8 to the indoor state meet this year. She always puts the team accomplishments above her own. She is everything that is right about scholar athletes. Marissa has been the rock of this team for the past few years.”
Born to Run
You could say that Holl was, in many ways, born to run, as it is a bit of a family tradition.
“My mom actually started her high school track team (in Allison Park, Pa., near Pittsburgh) because they didn't have a girls’ team, and (she) went on to run in college at Indiana University of Pennsylvania and after that ran several marathons,” she said. “My dad never ran competitively, but he just runs for fun.
Her parents, Molly and Rich, signed her up in the Ambler Olympic Club at a young age.
“I was seven or eight when they got me into it,” she reflected. “I wouldn’t be running today if it weren’t for them.”
But the reality was that she did gymnastics and played basketball before playing soccer for FC Europa became her main athletic endeavor, describing running as “just another activity” at that point.
“Even in middle school, I wasn’t sure if I loved it that much,” said Holl, who said the real passion for track began when she got into the high school program, adding that it was “a nice environment to be in.”
In the fall of her sophomore year, balancing practice time became a true juggling act.
“My club (soccer) team practiced two to three times a week,” she said. “That meant I had to skip some track practices.
“It was during my sophomore year that I knew I had to choose one or the other. I wanted to be dedicated to just one.
“My whole family runs. My sister ran all four years and now runs at Cornell. But it was still a hard decision.”
One sister running at Cornell and another bound for Lafayette says something about the family’s worth ethic.
“We work hard at everything we do – track and school,” said Holl.
In the Homestretch
Holl - who is nearing the end of attending classes before finishing up with a three-week volunteer stint at the Ambler Food Cupboard - enters the homestretch of her high school track career with some adversities in the rear-view mirror.
While she willingly stepped forward as a leader for the cross country team, organizing summertime runs, she is somewhat disappointed that she never quite lived up to her own expectations.
“(Cross Country) was always a struggle for me,” she explained, adding that she was usually the third or fourth finisher on the team in meets after running better times in practice. “It just never really came together. Races would always be a struggle.”
Still, winning four league titles in four years was a highlight of her career as part of the extended running family at Upper Dublin.
“There was the team aspect to (cross country), and being part of that was fun,” she said.
Her sophomore year, Holl worked through a stress reaction in both hips, which kept her competing but affected her training schedule, as she ran every other day instead of every day.
“I just had to suffer through it, knowing that it helps in (winter and spring) track,” she said.
Indeed that was the case, as Holl was on the state-qualifying 4X400 relay team during the winter and reached districts in the 800 as a sophomore, missing states by .3 seconds
Then, as a junior, her “hardest year” due to burning the midnight oil for school, she found herself just zapped of energy and eventually found out that she was dealing with anemia.
“It was hard,” she said. “I felt tired a lot of the time.”
Holl focused on her diet and starting taking iron pills.
“My body was not getting enough of what I needed,” she said. “By the end of the season, I was feeling better.”
Despite her struggles with anemia, last year’s highlights included the 4X800 relay qualifying for states in the winter and the 4X400 relay doing the same last spring.
The trials and tribulations were difficult, particularly with a high bar as a student (4.2 weighted GPA with several AP-level classes), but worth it in the end.
“It just comes from realizing how badly you want to succeed and what running means to me,” she said. “You don’t question why. You just keep getting out there each day.”
As for what remains of her senior year, Holl is prepared to make up for any perceived lost time.
“It’s weird how everything is wrapping up so fast,” she said. “We only have four weeks left of track.
“I definitely want to make it states and get a medal.”
Starting Over
Holl feels a deep bond with many of her teammates, past and present, and with the coaches – Dwyer, Paul Vandegrift and Tony Giammarco.
“They've helped me develop a love for the sport that I never had before,” she said. “I want to thank them for all the time and energy they put into my success and the team. Thanks to them our team has become like a family. Some of my closest friends are my teammates and track has really brought us together. Without them pushing me every day and supporting me throughout the season, I'm not sure where I would be. Because of the amazing coaches and teammates I've had it's going to be very had to leave.”
Running at Upper Dublin throughout the year – leaving only room for the National Honor Society and the Latin Club – has become a way of life.
“It’s not like other sports, with playing time and everything,” she said. “It comes down to how hard you work. When you step to the line, you recognize (rivals from other schools), but I just want to do as well as I can. If you do that, it doesn’t really matter (where you finish).”
And now, at Lafayette, it starts over.
“It was always a goal,” she said of being a collegiate runner. “I couldn’t imagine not continuing with it.”
Holl considered several schools but made only made official visits to Johns Hopkins and Lafayette, where she attended some classes and spent time with members of the women’s team.
“It just felt like a place I wanted to be,” she said, adding that she was initially interested in majoring in economics but is being cautious about locking into a major as a freshman.
“There are so many possibilities,” she said.
Holl described the Lafayette track program as “small” but with a burgeoning middle-distance niche. She will also run cross country and is prepared for the rigors of being a collegiate student-athlete, saying that “staying busy and not having free time kind of helps me” in staying focused.
“It’s nice that it’s not too far from home, but I’m still not going to be at home,” she said. “I’m a little nervous. I’ve been on a team for four years. It’ll be kind of scary, being on a team in college, but it will also be nice.”
