Sparta's Erika Veidis, one of the country's top 800 meter runners (9th fastest) last spring will head for Cambridge to study and compete at Harvard in the fall. Erika ran the 400 meter leg on Sparta's sprint medley relay that took 2nd at the New Balance Nationals in June, a race that saw New Jersey teams go 1-2-3 in the greatest girls SMR ever run. She has PRs of 2:08.53 in the 800 and 55.11 for 400.
When asked her reasons for choosing Harvard, Veidis said "I chose Harvard because it's always been a dream of mine to go there even before I stepped on a track. Trying to reach that goal made me push myself academically all throughout school and to have finally achieved that is just surreal. The coaches and team are great; they really seem like a family, creating an atmosphere where you push your limits athletically and strive to succeed not only for yourself but also for your teammates and coaches. There's a level of excitement in the student body that seems contagious. It also helps that the existing and incoming middle distance group there is very strong, so it should be exciting to be a part of that!"
Erika's is a very interesting story. Heading into the spring season she had PRs of 58.69 in the 400 and 2:17.26 in the 800. Under retired but subbing coach Rich Heckman's capable tutelage, Erika dropped her PRs in those events 3.58 and 8.73 seconds respectively in the span of three months. She also ran several sub-55 second 400 relay legs.
Erika chose Harvard from among an elite group of colleges that recruited her: Georgetown, Yale, Columbia and Stanford and a number of others.