North English/University of Iowa 2021 IATC Hall of Fame
North English High School, now English Valleys High School, is in Iowa County, south of Interstate 80 on Highway 149.
In many of Iowa’s small towns, both then and now, outstanding high school athletes come and go, leaving behind state titles and record setting performances.
When it came to putting on a singlet, shorts and spikes and tearing up cinder tracks around southeast Iowa, and beyond, the Bears had one of the very best in Gary Hollingsworth.
Holly was first and foremost a quarter miler, but his outstanding sprint speed did not limit him to a full circuit on the oval. He was a six-time Iowa high school state champion, winning 2 golds in the Indoor 440 and one in the 50 yard dash. Outdoors he won gold in the 100 yard dash, the 440 yard dash and the Mile Relay.
When having an official state indoor meet came to an end in 1972, Gary held the Class B 440-yard record at 50.7, set in 1960.
At the 1960 outdoor state meet, he ran 49 flat, which stood as the Class B 440 yard dash record until 1978 when we went from yards to meters. At the same state meet, Holly anchored the Bears Mile Relay to a win in 3:28.8, the second fastest time in the state that year, trailing only Des Moines Tech’s 3:26.7. He also led the team to the 1960 Class B Outdoor crown after a runner-up finish in 1959.
After graduating from North English Hollingsworth packed up and moved 45 miles east to Iowa City and the University of Iowa where he was a three-time letterwinner and a 4 time Big 10 champion; Once in the 440-yard dash and 3 times in the Mile Relay/ all 3 of those winning relay teams were made up of 4 former Iowa preps. Also, in 1963, the Hawkeye men won both the Big Ten Indoor and Outdoor team titles, a feat not to be repeated by an Iowa team until 2021. Holly’s 440-yard/400 meter outdoor PR of 46.30 from 1963, is still #9 on Iowa’s All-Time list.
After graduating from the University of Iowa, Hollingsworth moved down the street and became the first Boys PE teacher and first Boys Track and Field Coach at the brand new Iowa City West High school. The Trojans were 4A state runners-up in 2000 and won their first Mississippi Valley Conference team title in 2003. West High won 9 state meet event titles during Holly’s 34 year career at the helm.
In 2009 Coach Hollingsworth came out of retirement to join Mid Prairie and Iowa grad and NFL veteran Dan Dickel in coaching the Highland of Riverside girls track and field team. The Highland girls won several state meet medals during this time, including 4×2 gold during Holly’s five years there.
Gary Hollingsworth is now fully retired from coaching but is still an active official for University of Iowa home cross country and track and field meets. He and his wife Brenda reside in Iowa City. They are the proud parents of Mark, Mandy and Matthew and proud grandparents of Grace and Jack.