1. Central Dewitt Hall of Fame Induction Class 2014
Eric McDermott
Central Dewitt Hall of Fame
Induction Class 2014

2. Inducted for Outstanding Contributions as an individual of Central High School

3. Biography
In Cross Country, Eric was a 2x Big Bend Champion, 4x State Qualifier and 2x State Place-winner. As a track athlete, he finished 8th at the Drake Relays in the 3200 and was the Runner-up in the 1600, 3200 and 5th in the 4 x 800 at the State Track meet.  Upon graduation he was a 2003 Cross Country Team Captain for the University of Iowa has held three top 10 records in Track for the Hawkeyes.  He has earned a B.A. in  Mathematics, M.A. in Education Policy (2005), Economics (2013) and recently completed his PhD.  He volunteered in South Africa in the U.S. Peace Corps and is currently an Economics Lecturer at Cornell University.

4. Article from the Observer
Eric McDermott focused a lot of his energy on athletics as a student at Central Community High School. According to his friends and fellow athletes and coaches, it showed. The 1999 Central graduate says some of his best memories as a student are of competitions, long bus rides home and hanging out with his friends and teammates. McDermott enjoyed the variety of people and personalities on his team. He valued how they all came together to support each other, no matter how different they were. He also felt a kinship with veteran runners. His respect for them and their athleticism helped him improve as a runner and motivated him to be better. “I looked up to my older teammates and admired their confidence on and off the field,” McDermott recalls. “They were very kind to get me involved and support me from the time I was a freshman and I appreciated that. It was these top athletes around the state who I really wanted to be like.” He also pays tribute to his coaches for their guidance and encouragement. McDermott credits Jim Hetrick for helping the cross country program at Central grow and Mike Zimmer for pushing him to be a better runner

5. The Observer (cont.)
He also reminded me early in the indoor season of my senior year that I shouldn’t forget to have fun, too,” he relates. One of McDermott’s track coaches was Curtis Barber of DeWitt, who says McDermott was steadfast in his goal to win every race he could. “You always knew what you were going to get (with McDermott),” Barber relates. “He was always going to do his very best.” In high school, McDermott’s personal best was a time of 4:31 in the 1600-meter race. His other athletic accomplishments include being a four-time individual state meet qualifier in cross country. He placed fourth as a junior in 1997 and took ninth place as a senior in McDermott also was a two-time Big Bend Conference champion in cross country, placed eighth in the 3200-meter race at the 1998 Drake Relays, took second place in the 1600-meter and 3200-meter races, fifth place in the 4x800-meter race at the 1999 state meet and set a school record of 9:41 in the 3200-meter race. His achievements in running carried over into college. As an athlete at the University of Iowa, McDermott’s time was among the top 10 best finishes in the school’s history for the 3,000- and 5,000-meter indoor races and the 10,000-meter race.

6. The Observer (cont.)
McDermott also has personal-best times of 8:24 in the 3,000-meter race, 14:45 in the 5,000-meter race and 30:11 in the 10,000-meter race. In 2003, he also was the university cross country team’s co-captain. Troy Hythecker, who became friends with McDermott in junior high and ran track with him, says all the success McDermott ever achieved was hard earned. “He had a tremendous work ethic,” Hythecker notes. “Everything he accomplished, he worked very hard for it. He dedicated his time to reaching his goals and was very team-oriented. He wasn’t just working for his own success, he wanted the team to be successful as well.” McDermott, who is a lecturer of economics at Cornell University, says he felt privileged to meet good friends and exceptional athletes from around the state. Yet, it was the people from his hometown — residents and teachers — who saw his potential and gave him the confidence he needed to excel. “I’ve always been grateful for the support of so many people in the community,” McDermott relates, “many of whom were proud I did well in running, but most of whom would’ve been just as supportive regardless.”

7. Induction speech
Inducted for Outstanding Contributions as an Individual We have had a great Cross Country and Track & Field tradition at Central and have had some outstanding athletes over the years that have participated in both. One of those student-athletes, who excelled as a 4X Letterman in both sports was Eric McDermott, a 1999 graduate. As a High School Cross Country runner, Eric was a 2X Big Bend Champion and 4X All-Big Bend runner competing for Hall of Fame coach Jim Hetrick. He was also a rare 4X State Meet Qualifier. To get a chance to compete in a single State meet in any sport is very special. To qualify all 4 years is a unique accomplishment. Two times he placed at the State meet, finishing 4th as a junior in 1997 and 9th in 1998, his senior season. In Track and field he excelled as well. He ran for head coach Mike Zimmer while running with other long distance greats such as, Ryan Scheckel, Brad Hofer and Troy Hythecker. He was a Drake Qualifier in 1998 finishing 8th in the The next year he qualified for the State Meet in the 1600 and the 3200 finishing as Runner-up in both events. He also helped the team finish 5th in the 4 x 800 relay and helped contribute 20 points to the team total that year. His personal best in the 1600 was 4:31 and held the school record in the 3200 with a time of 9:41. After High school he attended the University of Iowa where he continued his athletic career Lettering in both sports for the

8. Speech (cont.) & video
Hawkeyes. In track he ran in races anywhere from the 3,000 to the 10,000- meter events. While there, he held top 10 records in the Hawkeye program in the 3,000-meter (8:24 indoor), 5000-meter (14:45 indoor) and the 10,000- meter with a personal best of 30:11. He was the Hawkeye Cross Country team Co-Captain in 2003 and has numerous top 20 meet finishes in both sports. While at the university, he earned a B.A. in Mathematics including his education license in 2003 and a M.A. in Education Policy in He has used his math degree to teach at the MS and HS levels from From he joined the U.S. Peace Corps as a volunteer in South Africa. He received his second Masters degree from the University of Minnesota in Economics in 2013 and his Ph.D. this summer. He has currently taken a position as an Economics Lecturer at the very prestigious Cornell University. Eric recalls watching some of the top athletes around the State at the State meet and really wanting to be like them. He also recalls all the supportive teachers who saw a great deal of potential in him even when he was not focusing on academics as much of his athletics. While it appears as if he certainly became one of the State’s top athletes while here, it also appears as if he has made good on all of his academic potentials as well. Please help me welcome the newest member of the Central High School Hall of Fame, 2014 inductee… Eric McDermott.