Sebastian Diebel continues to climb at Mount Olive

Just about a year ago this time, Sebastian Diebel believed he had his mind made up.

With a solid SDSSAA career in both cross-country running and track and field behind him, the graduate of St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School was about to pursue his post-secondary studies at the University of Windsor.

That was until Mount Olive College cross-country and track coach, Matt Van Lierop, came calling.

"We give our coach a lot of credit," Diebel said, having recently returned home for the summer. "There are some nice facilities there and stuff, but he's just a great, great recruiter."

Originally approaching the offer of a campus visit as nothing more than a free trip to North Carolina, Diebel was hooked, at least partially, by the picturesque campus that sits about an hour east of Raleigh.

Once the dust settled on a combination academic/athletic scholarship package that compared quite favourably to the cost of attending Windsor, Diebel committed, joining the Trojans. The school with a student population of roughly 5,000 and boasting athletes representing more than 20 different countries, had added a little more international flavour.

A devoted disciple of Track North mentors Darren Jermyn and Dick Moss, Diebel needed to adjust his mindset slightly, with Van Lierop adopting a slightly different approach to coaching.

"The one thing he is big on is running a lot of miles, but he's cautious in terms of the progression," Diebel said. "He adds a bit more quantity and a little less quality."

With a background in both cross-country and track, Diebel's versatility proved helpful in a system where the entire focus is almost completely team-oriented.

"I was more of a track guy who jumps up and helps out in cross-country as much as I can," he said.

In fact, in a closely grouped field at Mount Olive, Diebel could certainly contribute.

"Our team was so close in terms of times," he explained. "If I had a good day, I could be fifth or sixth. If I had a rough day, I might be 15th."

A mid-pack runner on the team of 20 athletes, Diebel's cross-country season was highlighted by a top-20 finish in a field of some 150 runners at Winthrop University in South Carolina.

"It was just one of those races where you're just in a zone, where nobody can stop you," he said.
While the intense heat of mid-August might have posed a challenge for the northern Ontario native early on, the favourable weather also offered opportunities.

"Our first outdoor track meet was the first weekend of March," Diebel noted with a smile. "I was emailing Darren and Dick and they were doing indoor meets in April."

But getting a head-start on his season did not necessarily translate to greater success, early on.

"I was getting frustrated because I was running basically the same exact times I was running in Sudbury, in the 1:58 - 1:59 range (800-m)," Diebel said. "But then again, I got thinking that this was late February/early March, so you're three to four months ahead of the game.

"I had some doubts, but there really wasn't one day where I woke up and didn't like what I was doing," Diebel added. "Once I settled that in my mind, it calmed me down and I found I ran better after that."

If the running program in North Carolina required some getting used to, the adjustment in the classroom came easier for the academically inclined native of Nairn Centre.

At a year-end ceremony, Diebel was awarded the Most Promising Recreation and Leisure Major for an Underclassman, a tribute to his efforts in his core studies as he pursues a degree in exercise science.

Truth be told, simply eliminating the daily travel back and forth from the Espanola area to Sudbury provided some much-needed additional study time for the 19-year-old now living on campus.

Still, the academic award came as a surprise. "My grades were solid, but I didn't know they were that good at the time. I was almost debating emailing them back and saying, 'Are you sure it's me?'" Diebel said with a laugh.

Though he remains occasionally envious when twin brother Simon is able to make a long weekend trek home from his post-secondary home in Kingston, Sebastian has seen the initial uncertainty subside.

With that in mind, it's onward and upward, both in the classroom and on the track, for the local lad, who ironically was named after English middle-distance great, Sebastian Coe.
 

Posted by Laurel Myers