Carmel's Eric Holt wins 1,500 at international championship in Bahamas

He has run a bit faster. But better?

No. Never.

Former Carmel High School track standout Eric Holt, who temporarily retired from the sport after competing for Binghamton University, continued to show Sunday his decision to resume training and competing was a good one.

The 27-year-old was considered a surprise fourth-place finisher earlier this summer at the 2022 Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships.

Sunday he may have erased "surprise" from any future high finishes.

Running in brutally hot conditions in the Bahamas, Holt captured the men's 1,500-meter title at the North American, Central American and Caribbean Athletic Association Open Championships, clocking 3:37.62 to edge fellow American Josh Thompson (3:37.68).

The 14-man field included past Olympian Charles Philibert-Thiboutot of Canada, who finished a half blink behind in third in 3:37.91 and American Johnny Gregorek Jr. (fourth place, 3:38.04), who was sixth in the event at the recent world championships.

This was the second time this summer that Holt defeated Gregorek, who entered the race ranked higher in the world at 1,500 meters than Holt.

In fact, so was Philibert-Thiboutot and four others in the race.

Holt, whose personal-best time at the distance is 3:35.8, termed the win "100%" his biggest ever, quipping, "Unfortunately, it's probably my biggest victory since winning states in high school."

But he's an entirely different athlete now — one who's proving he can compete with and beat some of the best in the world.

"This win was finally a big-time victory besides some invitationals. ... I want to prove to naysayers that I can win at big meets, not just small," he said.

In winning, he overcame Philibert-Thiboutot's use of a teammate as a rabbit, immediately recognizing what was happening and staying with Philibert-Thiboutot.

"(Before the race,) I figured the Canadians were up to something," Holt said.

But he also credited his win to being smart well before the starting gun.

Because of the heat, which had an on-track-area feel in excess of 100 degrees, he trained indoors on a treadmill the day before the race, then wore an ice jacket with an iced towel around his neck while getting ready on race day.

"The warmup was unbearable but I felt like I had a really smart warmup that allowed me to win the race," Holt said, characterizing his run overall as "the best executed race in my life."

Holt toed the starting line ranked 51st in the world in the 1,500.

Holt, who runs for the local Empire Elite Track Club, noted coach John Trautmann calculated post-race that the win could move him to as high as 29th in the world but definitely top-40. He should also be fifth among Americans.

He noted many of the runners he defeated Sunday are ranked in the 20s worldwide.

"It's just a validating feeling," Holt said, explaining some had felt him lucky to have finished fourth at the U.S. championships.

"I wanted to prove I rightfully earned that spot and I did," he said, explaining he runs with a chip on his shoulder and something to prove having failed to win big collegiate titles for Binghamton and now facing NCAA champions.

He also hopes he has proved he deserves sponsorship.

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He has run for Empire Elite (including early on with his then-teammate Gregorek as one of his training partners) for better than a year-and-a-half with no sponsorship. He's living with his sister to shave expenses.

"In order to get sponsored, I believed I needed to win (Sunday)," he said, adding, "(Now) I definitely expect to have a contract."

Holt, who captured Pennsylvania's West Chester Mile August 11 in a personal-best 3:54.93, will look to extend his winning streak September 1 in the Monmouth Mile in New Jersey.

Noting he ran as an alternate in that race in 2019 after someone got hurt, he said he was considered the "slowest guy in the race" and was told by another runner not to break out up front because he'd slow people down.

But Holt finished in fewer than four minutes and won the race.

Now he's returning and neither Holt nor anyone else thinks he's going to slow anyone down.

Instead, he predicted, "I'm going to do something super special."

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Ex-Carmel star Holt beats former Olympian, wins international title