Erin Dietz closes prep career with big finish

By Mary Albl for DyeStat

The national spotlight didn’t find Erin Dietz till after her high school running career. 

And the soon-to-be Harvard freshman is just fine with that.

Despite building a strong reputation as one of the top names in the Northeast, the recent Bedford High (Bedford, Mass.) graduate didn’t overload herself with many of the large-scale races. 

“I don’t think I’ve been overlooked,” Dietz said. “All the other girls deserve to have it (the spotlight). Like Ryen Fraizer, she goes to all these big meets and has been consistently competitive. And I haven’t really until this year.”

This past month Dietz burst onto the national scene in a big way. The self-described "organized" and "logical" distance runner has had a busy beginning to the summer. 

In June, she traveled to Greensboro, N.C. where she took second in the 5,000-meter race at New Balance Nationals. Almost a week later she flew to Oregon to compete in the USATF Junior National Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

“It’s been kind of crazy but it hasn’t been too bad because I’ve really been focusing on this point of the season all year,” she explained. “I’m fresh and I still feel good. And I’m not in school, which really helps.” 

At US Juniors at Hayward Field in Eugene, Dietz had one of her strongest performances to date. She captured third in the 5,000 (16:36.16) and then qualified for the Pan American Junior Championships in the 3,000 (9:37.41) by placing second. Both of her times were personal records. 

“I was very surprised,” Dietz said of her performances. “I didn’t know where I would place; I went for the experience.” 

While Dietz’s name is becoming more well-known on a much larger scale, her high school coach Joel Hebert said she’s been “kicking butt” since her sophomore year.

“Nothing Erin does surprises me anymore,” he said. 

Dietz, who won the 2014 Massachusetts Gatorade Cross Country Runner of the Year and qualified for Foot Locker Cross Country Nationals, said she prefers the trails over the track. 

She didn’t get many opportunities to run the longer distance races in high school, but when she did, she excelled with her natural endurance.  

“Erin is a human stopwatch,” Hebert said. “She runs eerily even splits. She is the epitome of consistent. 

That trait is also what benefited her in high school.

Dietz said she never tried to burden herself, but rather have the perfect balance of school, friends and running.

A typical day during her senior year wasn’t anything out of the ordinary; school, practice, home for dinner and then off to bed early. She said Sunday afternoons were typically reserved for homework. 

And just like her running career, her class load wasn’t jam-packed, but planned to highlight her strengths. 

She only took the classes she was interested in, including chemistry. She said she’s leaning toward Chemical Engineering as a major at Harvard. 

She chose the prestigious Ivy League school over the University of Virginia because of the natural fit. 

“I really liked all the people there and felt like I fit in well,” she said. “It’s close to home and I really liked the location of the Cambridge area.”

Harvard associate head cross country coach Patrick Wales-Dinan believes Dietz's ambitions will flourish at the college level.

“The first time I spoke to Erin I sensed a desire to be great that you don't often hear in a high school runner," he said. "It was clear that she had carefully considered her place in the sport and how she wanted to make an impact. She was forward thinking. She coupled that desire with a tremendous academic resume. I think Erin has lots of room to improve. She hasn't race a great deal as a high schooler and I hope to take that same approach as she transitions to the collegiate realm."

Dietz said she doesn’t have a job this summer, so her time has consisted of training now for Pan Am Juniors, hanging out with friends and occasionally babysitting.

“I really like being around kids,” she said. “I’m happy just playing with Legos,” she said. 

And later this month, she gets a chance to represent her country. 

Dietz will leave home at the end of July to head to Edmonton, Canada (July 31-Aug. 2) for the Pan Am Juniors. 

While it will be her biggest race of her career so far, she said the experience of U.S. Juniors and racing against college-level women gave her the confidence she needed. 

“While I did go for the experience, lining up at the start line I told myself I did belong there and I did deserve this,” she said. “During the race (3K) I made sure I stayed with them.”

And don’t be surprised if Dietz continues to attract the national spotlight.

“I think Erin gets better the longer the race,” Hebert said. “If she stays healthy, she will thrive in college and beyond.”