Crawford 100: Colonel Crawford's Mira Holt has sights set on success

Editor's Note: This is the eleventh installment of a series.

NORTH ROBINSON — Sports have been a part of Mira Holt's life for … well, her whole life.

"It was definitely a big part of growing up," the Colonel Crawford senior said. "I was around them a lot, and I've done basketball my whole life. That was my main thing until junior high, so I've grown up around that with my dad ever since I can remember."

A five-time All-Ohioan in two different sports, Holt enters her final year as the No. 1 returning girl in Crawford County.

Acclimation to varsity

As a freshman, Holt spent the fall on the JV volleyball team with so many talented seniors and juniors occupying varsity spots. Into winter she primarily was a standout at the JV level on the court, but did make five appearances for the first team. Track season, on the other hand, is where she really had the chance to shine. And she wasted no time doing that.

Holt opened the season winning the 400-meter dash at the Bucyrus Elks Invitational by a mere hundredth of a second. At the Northern 10 championships, she won the 400 again — coincidentally sweeping it with her older brother, Ethan — along with first-place finishes as part of the 4x200 and 4x400 relays. A district runner-up in the 400 and 4x200, along with a district title in the 4x400 advanced her to regionals where she would go on to qualify for state in the long relay. Bowing out in preliminaries was all the motivation she needed to ensure that didn't happen again — but it wasn't all that bad considering the Eagles won a state title in Division III .

The craziest thing about it all? Holt just started running a year before.

"I didn't run track until eighth grade because we didn't have a season my seventh grade year due to COVID," she said. "And seventh grade is when I started volleyball, and I played through my sophomore year.

"It definitely feels like I've been doing it longer than I have. Now I love watching track, which I never really did until I got into it the past couple years. But in eighth grade we went down to junior high state in the 4x4, I think that was what sparked my interest more. I saw that I might have potential in high school to be better at it. Once I got into it with the coaching and everything, from then on I just wanted to get better and keep working at it."

Sophomore splendor

In the fall, she contributed 101 kills, 56 blocks, 50 digs and 58 receptions as the Eagles won their first sectional title in a decade . Holt then led the basketball team in scoring, averaging 8.2 points, 3.1 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 1.7 steals per game before they were upset in the sectional championship by rival Wynford.

Freshman year was more so a learning experience for Holt on the track. And while her second full season was a bit of a rollercoaster dealing with a foot injury that sidelined her most of the season, she managed to recover in time for a memorable postseason.

"Junior high everyone isn't as fast as high school, and my freshman year running against seniors was definitely a challenge," Holt said. "You come from eighth grade winning a lot to running against girls that have been doing it for four years. And there's the challenge of not seeing maybe consistent PRs might also be a struggle, but just pushing through it definitely helps."

That's exactly what she did helping power the Eagles to another N10 title , a district championship , a regional championship and All-Ohio honors in the 4x100 and 4x400 relays .

The success of basketball and track led her to make a difficult decision heading into junior year — dropping volleyball.

"It was more just for time to focus on the other two," Holt said.

Building a legacy

Holt played in a fall basketball league to better prepare her for junior season and went on to lead the team with 11.1 points, 5.4 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 2.1 steals per game. The Eagles not only won a sectional title over county rival Bucyrus , but toppled Clear Fork in overtime in districts before falling to powerhouse Margaretta in the championship. The work she put in during the offseason and fall paid off as Holt was recognized as special mention All-Ohio in Division III .

"From freshman year up until now, a lot of it was a confidence thing," she said. "I've been around it forever, but playing at the high school level and switching to varsity is definitely a different atmosphere. Just getting in the gym and working in the offseason, on off days and stuff to build my confidence helped out more than anything."

The person she credits the most to her success is her dad, Lee. And they got to witness history shortly after basketball season wrapped up, taking a trip up to Cleveland for the NCAA Women's Championships that made history drawing more viewers than the men's tournament for the first time.

"That was really cool to go to the national championship game," Holt said. "I've been a fan of South Carolina for the past three years or so, and to be able to see them in person — it's definitely different than just watching on a screen. I grew up loving basketball because of him and he's always been my biggest supporter … so to be able to see that in person and go there with him was definitely special."

She then replicated her state success in the spring being part of the 4x100 and 4x400 relays to podium in Dayton . With one year to go — and sky-high expectations for both teams — Holt is hoping to cap off her career in the best possible way.

"As a team, we want to win the N10 and we want to go further in the tournament than we did last year," she said. "And in track, I'd like to make it individually to state because I've been in relays, which is fun, but my senior year I'd like to go individually."

zholden@gannett.com

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This article originally appeared on Bucyrus Telegraph-Forum: Crawford 100: Colonel Crawford's Mira Holt has sights set on success