On Friday, Nov. 20, 2016, Central Bucks West senior Erik Metz was recognized for committing to continue his track and field career at Lehigh University. To view photos of the signing event, please visit the Photo Gallery.
Erik Metz – Lehigh University (Track & Field)
Major: International Relations or Economics
Final list of colleges: Lehigh, Lafayette
Reasons for choosing Lehigh: “Lehigh was one of the first schools I looked at. Obviously, it’s close enough that – as somebody who might get homesick – I can still visit my parents and come home for Thanksgiving and (come home) to do my laundry. Also, it’s an academically challenging school, and that’s something I’m really looking forward to because I know as a student-athlete – the student comes first, and for me, it’s all about finding the right academic school. The athletics are there, so Lehigh worked out well for me because they have a very competitive program. Since they are Division One, there are so many opportunities for myself as an athlete and as a student there.
“They have a host of different majors, the campus is beautiful, and they have all sorts of athletic facilities that are just absolutely top notch. When I went and met with the coaches, the coaches said all the right things. They have the right goals for a jumper like myself. The head coach coaches the jumps, which is really rare to find in any sort of program, let alone Division One. He really works to build a family aspect in the track world there, and that’s something that’s really important to me as somebody who comes from a really strong family that I found somewhere that made me feel I was 1) included and 2) a valuable member of the team.”
What was progression that led you to competing in track and field at the collegiate level? “My sophomore year was the first year I started jumping – the outdoor sophomore season, and I met all sorts of success. My first jump was the furthest jump the school had seen in almost a decade. I was like ‘Wow, this is something that’s kind of fun.’ It’s always fun to succeed, so that was a great thing for me. After the season when I had scored a single point in the league meet, I said, ‘That was really cool.’ Since I started so late with my event for the track world, I figured – I only have so much time in my life to compete in something like this, so it was important for me to do track in college after the end of my sophomore year.
“I didn’t get really serious about looking at schools or thinking about college until midway through my junior year after I had set the indoor school record for West, and I said, ‘I really need to get on this.’ From that, I reached out to some coaches and heard back from them, and it just took off from there.”
Coach Greg Wetzel says: “Erik is really incredibly driven, so much so that he’s willing to be coached by his father. They’re cut from the same cloth. His father is an engineer, and he said, ‘I think I can coach him to be great. Would you mind if I came onto your staff? I’ll watch a lot of YouTube and figure this out and master it.’ He really has done that. He’s researched and researched and researched and built himself into a great coach, and his son has been a part of that process of driving the train and saying, ‘What about these drills? What about these exercises?’ and really being willing to work. Erik is just really incredibly willing to work and really focused on being the best that he can be. He’s almost never satisfied. He’s mostly unhappy, which is funny to say about someone who is so wildly successful, but he is very particular, very driven and always believes he has more to give than he sometimes does, but that’s what makes him so good.”
About Erik:
Favorite food: Sushi
Favorite movie: Animal House or The Patriot
Favorite music: Classic Rock & Country
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