It's a blessing for any coach that an athlete with raw, untapped talent shows up out of the blue and falls into their hands. The potential this type of athlete has is coveted by many, possessed by few, and comes along on rare occasions. This was the case with former Hawk standout, runner Omri Holzman, who personifies the described traits; raw, untapped talent.
In early September of 2002, head cross country and track and field coach,
Ed Zarowin (“Coach Z”) received a pleasant surprise when Holzman appeared at the foot of his office asking if he can run cross country and track for the Hawks; “I don't have any experience, but I'd like to try.” The rest is history.
Holzman was not what one would call a “typical athlete” in the fact that he was much older than the rest of his teammates and competitors and had no experience in the sport. Furthermore, most athletes do not work a full nine-to-five job, have a full course load of night classes, and practice alone either early in the morning or in between work and school. This was the case in Holzman's situation. Between studying computer science and economics, working for the Israeli Consulate and training, he learned to balance his efforts so that he thrived and succeeded in each area. “It was difficult at first, but after the first year, I got used to it and the busy schedule became routine for me,” Holzman says of the exhausting days. The hard work and determination he put in showed as he boasted a 3.681 grade point average and was a very successful athlete.
Given the fact that he had no running experience, Holzman went out and did everything Coach Z told him to and his progression showed through his times as they kept getting faster with each meet. In just four short years, Omri attained a level of fitness that most people will never achieve in their lifetime. On the track, he sports an impressive 15:13 personal best over 5,000 meters, 32:00 in the 10,000 meters and a 25:40 clocking over 8k in cross country.
Holzman is a highly decorated Hawk runner and earned countless athletic and academic awards throughout his years at Hunter. He's the owner of four CUNYAC (City University of New York Athletic Conference) Championship records between cross country, indoor and outdoor track, is a 19-time conference champion which includes four titles in cross country, four indoors at 5k, four outdoors at 5k, and four outdoors in the 10k, and also holds the school record in that event. He's a multiple time CUNYAC Runner of the Year honoree and was named Runner of the Week on numerous occasions. Additionally, he was a CUNYAC Scholar athlete and was awarded the Hospital for Special Surgery Scholar-Athlete of the Month Award for May 2004.
During his first cross country season, he managed to capture the conference title over the tough 8,000 meter course at Van Courtlandt Park in the Bronx in a time of 28:55. Over the next three years, on the same course, he accomplished the same feet and won the meet each year while setting the CUNYAC Championship record in the process by way of a 26:26 clocking during his junior year.
Holzman was an integral part of the Hawks success in capturing the elusive Triple Crown (winning cross country, indoor and outdoor all in the same year) during the '02-'03 and '03-'04 seasons. The only indoor race at the conference championships he did not come in first was in 2006 in the 1500 where he lost to Andrew Stahl-David of CCNY over 1500 meters in a race where they both broke the existing record. During the outdoor championships, he bested every field he faced over four years of racing. Holzman owns the CUNYAC outdoor 10k and indoor and outdoor 5k records and also appears an additional six times in the top-three among different events during both seasons.
Upon graduating, Holzman headed back to Tel Aviv, Israel where he married his wife, Inbal, had a child, Ido, and put his degree to use by working for IBM as an Account Manager. After Hunter track and field, he kept up the running and took on the bold distance of the marathon as his new focus. Using the same drive and determination that fueled him as a Hunter student-athlete, Holzman put it toward the 26.2 mile trek. In his debut at the New York City Marathon in November of 2006, the former Hawk placed 54th overall out of just under 38,000 finishers in a very fast time of 2:29:17. The following year, in the same race, although he finished around two minutes slower, he improved to 39th overall. In 2008, Holzman continued to compete, this time in Paris where he lowered his personal best to 2:28:51, good enough for a 48th place overall finish.
With the help of Coach Z and the drive and determination to succeed, Holzman transformed himself from an inexperienced runner to a decorated Hawk athlete, to a sub-elite marathoner in just a few short years. Although his focus has shifted more toward his family and career, when he goes out for a jog, he never forgets that his running roots stem from the Purple and Gold. Holzman plans on getting back into running on a more competitive basis and hopes he'll be in shape to compete in a Marathon in the spring of 2011.
