On Jan. 31, Bella Pietrasiewicz ’25 set a new Dartmouth record, becoming the fourth collegiate athlete this season to score below 2:40 in the women’s 1000m run. Pietrasiewicz clocked in at the John Thomas Terrier Classic in Boston with a time of 2:39.85 — the third-fastest in the women’s 1000m in NCAA history.
Deep down, Pietrasiewicz said she knew she wanted to break her school record but “hadn’t really told anyone.” To go for the 1000m title, she had to beat her 800m personal record and then keep going, she explained.
“That was really scary, to know I had to run faster than I ever have before in a shorter distance, and then keep going,” she said.
As soon as the starting gun went off, Pietrasiewicz said her instincts kicked in.
“I knew I had to bet on myself,” she said.
Waiting on the starting line, Pietrasiewicz was “a little wired” knowing she was “going to have to try to do something crazy.”
“Your heart gets going, but in a cool way,” she said.
When Pietrasiewicz crossed the 800m line she hit her 800m personal record and knew she was on pace — telling herself she just had to “hold on.”
Hearing her teammates, coaches and parents yelling “propelled [her] forward,” pushing her across the finish line with her historic time.
Pietrasiewicz’s father, Mike Pietrasiewicz, said he and his wife, Liz Pietrasiewicz, were sitting with parents of the other teams after her race when people started coming up to them. The other parents were congratulating them on their daughter’s race time, he said.
Mike Pietrasiewicz said he initially responded by agreeing that “‘Yeah, it was a really good time.’”
“But they were like, ‘No no, that’s the third fastest ever,’” he said. “And we were like, ‘Wait what?’”
Pietrasiewicz said she was grateful for her supportive team and coaches.
“I saw six of my teammates run out to the track, and my coaches there, and my parents, and even now, reflecting on it … gratitude is the biggest thing I’ve been feeling,” Pietrasiewicz said. “I’m just so lucky and thankful.”
Alex Evans, who coached Pietrasiewicz at Norton High School for four years, described her as “a very coachable athlete.”
“It’s never, like, ‘I don’t think I can do this,’” Evans said. “It’s always been, ‘Okay, these are the goals I want to reach.’”
Even as competitions were canceled during the COVID-19 pandemic — which impacted Pietrasiewicz’s last season in high school — Pietrasiewicz “took any opportunity as a chance to get better,” Evans added.
Pietrasiewicz’s last high school race — which she ran while wearing a mask — is a memory which Evans vividly remembers with pride, he said.
“It was definitely a moment I look back on as a very human moment,” Evans said. “It wasn’t just about the result. It wasn’t about the trophies or the placement input. It was about making that connection and making that difference in another person’s life.”
Despite Pietrasiewicz’s high school grit — and her recent triumphs — she was not heavily recruited to run in college.
“Her goal when she first started college was just to score one point for the team,” Mike Pietrasiewicz said. “Now, look at her.”
Pietrasiewicz said her goal at the time was to break three minutes in the 1K — a feat which she could not quite complete back then.
“The coach said, ‘Don’t reach out again until you hit this time,’” she said. “And so I was like, ‘Alright, fine, I’m going to do it then.’”
Pietrasiewicz wound up beating that three minute time for her 1K, despite an admission that she “was the slowest recruit coming into Dartmouth.”
Ultimately, Pietrasiewicz said her belief in herself “against the odds” has strengthened her resolve as an athlete — and has made her excitement about breaking the NCAA record that much greater.
“I think crossing that line and knowing that time is just a really proud moment of like, ‘Oh wow, you’ve really come a long way,’” she said.
Looking to the future, Pietrasiewicz feels that the “stage has gotten bigger” in terms of her running goals. Whether that includes the Olympics or running professionally, she is now “trying to chase the next mountain” and continue her success.
