Of all the sports to choose from as a kid, Nipomo High School junior Devin Diaz said he was always drawn to running.
His father is a former professional baseball player for the Milwaukee Brewers and his mother is an avid runner; Diaz gravitated toward his mom's pastime. But he inherited both his parents' competitive nature.
"I kinda wanted to be better than her," Diaz laughed. "I was always too competitive, especially when it came to running."
His drive to succeed has pushed Diaz into the CIF Southern Section finals meet after he finished sixth among all runners in the Division 4 preliminaries at the Riverside City Cross Country Course on Nov. 11.
While the Nipomo boys' showing as a team at prelims wasn't enough to qualify them for the finals, Diaz earned himself a trip back to Riverside on Nov. 18 as an individual.
"It's a weird feeling," Diaz said of being the sole finals runner from Nipomo, "but I'm definitely blessed to be in this situation. I exceeded my expectations by a lot. I didn't expect myself to finish that high because we were in the better race and division. I just had to trust my training and kind of force myself to do whatever I had to do to move on to the next round."
Diaz thanked his Nipomo teammate, James Stewart, for helping him train for the finals meet between Nov. 13 and Nov. 17 even though his and the rest of the team's season was over.
"I honestly wouldn't be able to be doing it right now if it weren't for [Stewart] stepping up and doing the workouts with me," Diaz said. "He's helping me push along and hopefully I can make it to states."
Driving to Riverside two weekends in a row isn't easy for a high schooler, especially one keeping up with schoolwork. Diaz said he's been able to manage the workload.
"It's pretty cool because I'm in the back seat and when I'm not talking to someone I'm doing my homework," he said.
Diaz's future plans include running cross country and/or track in college, and he has his eye on Northwestern schools like Wyoming and Montana.
"Anything that has a really good ag program," Diaz said. "My long-term goal is to hopefully get some sort of scholarship."
