Ashland's E. J. Holland Building Up To Something Big 

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

E.J. Holland is finally ready to show what he can do. 

The Ashland OR senior and defending NXR Northwest champion has spent the fall training with one specific goal in mind – to be there with a chance to win Nike Cross Nationals on Dec. 7 in Portland. 

Holland and his father, Neil, put together a training plan over the summer that was designed to build strength, maximize speed, and most importantly, land on the right day with a big effort. 

Holland raced twice in late September, once Oct. 9, and then qualified for the state meet by cruising through his district meet Oct. 30. 

"I really feel like I'm in good shape and this year has been really kind to me, staying injury-free and healthy," he said. "I've been able to string together a lot of really good workouts."

A recent dry spell has held for weeks in western Oregon and is expected to last through the weekend. That could mean good things for the Oregon state championships Saturday at Lane Community College in Eugene, where the US#1 Summit girls and Holland, and others, could put on a show for spectators. 

STATE MEET INDEX

Holland may feel a twinge of guilt for how the last two state meets went. In 2017, he was nosed out at the line by Andy Monroe of Crater after a great race. Last year, an over-exuberant Holland ran his first 800 in 2:06 and paid for it later on the way to a win in 15:30 – 11 seconds slower than the year before.

"If the day is good and I'm really feeling up, we'll see (about a fast time)," Holland said. "It's the first meet I'm really getting ready to race-race."

On a sunny day last Friday in Monmouth, Holland and his parents were on hand to watch the Pac-12 Conference Cross County Championships. 

Holland, decked out in a green Oregon T-shirt and lemon-yellow shorts, came to watch the Ducks and hung around to do a workout on the course with teammate Reed Pryor.

Holland's recruitment to Oregon was relatively easy. It's been his dream school ever since he moved to southern Oregon from Illinois in the sixth grade. 

"I'm just happy that I became good enough to consider the U of O," Holland said. "On my visit, I fell in love with it."

Holland has a chance to go into the Oregon program with as much acclaim as any of the top in-state luminaries who have come before – from Steve Prefontaine to Billy McChesney Jr., Eric Logsdon, Galen Rupp and Matthew Maton. 

Last spring, Holland ran 3:46.59 for 1,500 meters at the Portland Track Festival. He also ran 8:50.29 for the 2-mile and 8:13.10 in the 3,000 meters. 

Those performances earned an invitation to Nike Elite Camp and set in motion a fall schedule designed to peak at nationals. 

In 2018, after winning the NXR Northwest title, Holland went to Glendoveer Golf Course with high expectations and finished 16th. 

"I was hoping for better," he said. "After winning Northwest, and BorderClash, I felt really, really strong. I felt like a top-five finish was possible. But when the day came, I felt like I was out of gas."

Holland has done a lot of his training on his own this fall, but hasn't let go of his team. 

At the Ash Creek Preserve XC Festival on Sept. 7, Holland acted as the coach of the boys varsity. He got them warmed up, gathered the group at the starting line for final instructions, and cheered the team to a fourth-place finish. 

But that day also began the season-long question: What would Ashland look like with Holland in the lineup?

"E.J.'s on fire," coach Hans Voskes said at the time. "He's more fit now than he was last year at this time." 

A week later, Holland was with the team at the Northwest Classic in Eugene, a meet where he ran his first sub-15 5K in 2018. 

This time, Voskes approached him on the bus with a different instruction.

"I asked him to spend a little more time with the varsity girls, encouraging them and helping them warm up," Voskes said. "You don't have to ask E.J. twice. He has a real understanding of performance and how to do it right."

That day in Eugene, Pryor and Arlo Davis finished 1-2. 

At the Rogue XC Invite on Sept. 21, a local relatively small local meet, Holland put on the uniform and ran a rust-busting 14:57.53 on a hilly course. He won by more than 80 seconds.

The three races since then have been mostly controlled efforts. At the Max King Invitational on Oct. 9, Holland ran 14:51.7 for 5K despite making a wrong turn and having to back-track to the correct course. 

"We knew from his freshman year on that this was a special kid, and it's not just in his athletic ability," Voskes said. "You wouldn't believe the splits (in his workouts), but it's also his attitude, it's the whole package. And the other kids feed off of that."

Holland's mature appoach to training and his support to teammates have Ashland poised to win its first team title since 1993. 

"I know that with him on the team I'm not the best guy or even the second best guy, but I'm grateful to have him," Pryor said of Holland. "He's pushing me every day and he's really smart about training."

Pryor and Davis both have PRs this season under 15:20. Fourth man Cameron Stein has run 15:38. 

A trio of Vincent Senn, Henry Williams and Nathan Stein have all run between 16:30-40 and will try to close the gap and elevate the prospects of the entire squad. Nobody is encouraging those three more than Holland.

Ashland has never traveled as a team to NXR Northwest before, and this year the Grizzlies are giving it a shot. 

"All season we've been focused on trying to get this state title, which would be the first in what seems like forever," Holland said. "And then we'll go to regionals for the first time in school history."