Mira Costa High School running phenom Dalia Frias had a huge week last week: She graduated from high school, and she broke the National Federation of High Schools outdoor record for the girls' two-mile race.

Frias ran the eight-lap event in a record-breaking time of 9:50.70 at the Brooks PR meet in Seattle, Washington. 

Frias, who is headed to Duke in the fall, broke the previous national record of 9:51.35 set in 2017.

 

At Wednesday's race, she finished strong to keep just a hair ahead of her chief competitor, Irene Riggs of Morgantown, WV, who finished in 9:50.72. 

Frias told MB News that breaking the national record "really took me by surprise." 

"Going into the race I honestly had no expectations, but I knew it was my last race of the season and I wanted to give it my all," she said. "But I definitely was not thinking about the national record and didn't even know that I had broken it until a little bit after my race."

Frias continued: "Breaking the national record really was just a cherry on top of my season and it proved to me that even though the last few weeks of training were challenging as I was training alone, it was all worth it in the end and had paid off."

Frias has continued to earn accolades throughout her record-breaking high school career. In March, she set a new California state record in the mile race with a time of 4:35.06 (the second-fastest mile ever accomplished outdoors by a high school girl.)

Last December, she placed fifth at the national Garmin RunningLane Cross Country Championships, earning All-American honors in the process. At the conclusion of the cross country season, she was named Gatorade's 2021/22 Girls Cross Country Player of the Year for California.

Earlier, during one stretch in Spring 2021, she broke three school records in three weeks, including one track record that has stood in Manhattan Beach for 37 years.

Throughout this time, she has maintained her status as a top student, with a GPA of 4.09.

"As I move on to Duke in the fall, I plan on just taking things step by step," said Frias. "I know that I am definitely going to have to adjust to college training but I am so excited to be surrounded by teammates who are committed to running, and also I am looking forward to nailing down the little things and getting stronger and stronger each day."