BILLINGS — Sprinter Ryan Dierenfield was at a crossroads last summer.
"Honestly, I hadn’t really done anything. I had no schools looking at me. It was like (give it) 100% or nothing," the Billings Skyview senior recalled, wondering whether he should continue the landscaping job he had been on for less than a week, or commit to his college dream?
"I couldn’t handle it because trying to get off after such a long landscaping shift and then go to the gym," Dierenfield continued, "... I literally sat my mom down and said, ‘I’m not doing this. I know it’s been like four days of landscaping work, but I’ve got a dream to chase and I’m just going to go all in,’ and I think it paid off pretty well.”
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That’s an understatement after Dierenfield recorded a 60-meter time in December of 6.68 seconds, fastest in the nation to that point in the year for high school students. Interest from colleges started rolling in before the speedster finally announced his commitment to the University of Tennessee on social media in a fun photo donning UT racing gear and a cowboy hat.
"The biggest thing was when I posted my commitment to Tennessee. My phone literally quit working. I mean, it’s super surreal. It’s humbling," Dierenfield said.
Though sidelined for most of this high school spring with an injury, Dierenfield's résumé includes State AA championships in both the 100 and 200 meter dashes. He also holds the fastest 100-meter time in Montana high school history at 10.45 seconds.
Now that he’s about to become a Tennessee Volunteer, does he know what exactly a Volunteer is?
"I had to look this up because I knew I’d get asked," he said with a laugh. "I only did it a couple weeks ago – but it’s a volunteer in the Civil War."
You see, he’s already doing his homework. But on campus he likely won’t have time for a side hustle, including his previous job at a local sub shop in Billings.
"Working on the sub line, everything was a count. There were this many tomatoes, this many hands of lettuce, and the juice was measured in a certain number of shakes. I don’t miss that job at all," Dierenfield admitted with another laugh.
"My dad always said, ‘Dealing with people is one thing. Dealing with hungry people is a whole different thing.’”
