For an athlete who's proven his dedication to succeed with not only his tireless work ethic and personal competitive drive but with a healthy understanding of his sport and an attitude to match, Lakeside's Dylan Dew has reached new levels of success with the Rams track and field team.
That's why Dew, the winner of 1600-meter run at the Class 5A state track meet, is The Sentinel-Record's 2021 Boys Track Athlete of the Year.
Lakeside head track coach Jeff Haynes noted how Dew's execution strategy at state went over virtually flawlessly.
"At state going into that mile race, a couple days before, we sat right out there on the corner of the track and talked about the race and, 'This is what I think you need to do, because it's gonna be a sit-and-kick race, and if you can control the race from the start, that's your best chance because you're controlling the kick.' And man, he executed probably the best race I've seen a high school kid ... going in with a plan and executing. It was probably the best I've seen in my 14 years."
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Dew said that before the season started, he ran a 4:31 at the time trial and felt pretty good going into the season. Due to a knee injury, though, he sat out all of January which he said was "big setback" to his training.
He gradually started getting healthy again, and by the time the season started in the spring, he ran a 4:37 in the first meet at home and was ready to go.
"Over the season, I was looking, you know, the goal was to get under 4:25, and I did that, luckily," he said. "But yeah, throughout the year that was just my one goal -- try and go under 4:25 again."
Dew not only ran the 1600-meter in under 4 minutes and 25 seconds again, but set a new school record by running it a 4:24.94 in the state championship last month, defeating Greenbrier's Dominic Ward in second with a 4:25.83.
"Going into the state meet I knew the competition was fast," he said. "I believe I was seeded second behind my buddy Tate (Smithhart) from Vilonia by 1 second, and so the thing with that was, like, from that first seed to, I believe, the ninth or 10th seed, it was a difference of like 5 or 6 seconds. So it was really, you know -- anyone could bring it home. Going in, when the gun went off, we come around the first 100, and I was expecting it to be like, people going out super hard, you know. And my plan was just to pace with, hopefully, some of those top people and then just out-kick them and go the last lap."
Dew explained, however, that going into that first 100 meters of the race, everyone was rather "laid back."
"So I was thinking, 'OK,' you know, 'Maybe, I'll just lead this then,'" he said. "So going through the 800, I was still leading, you know, and that was what coach Haynes and I talked about. Like, the game plan going into the third lap -- maybe surging that first 100 right there, first 50 meters or so to get some space, and then pacing, and then the last 500 just giving it all I got. And, I mean, the game plan worked."
Dew noted that heading into the final lap, he thought to himself, "I could actually win this thing."
"I remember giving one last look back with like 10 meters to go," he said. "And I was like, 'OK, I brought it home.' And it just felt really good because like everything I've worked (for), you know -- that sure distance stuff -- it paid off."
Dew said the title was even sweeter as it provided some personal retribution after not being able to compete in the state cross country meet due to being quarantined upon his brother testing positive for COVID-19.
"That took me out, and that was really hard for me because it felt like everything I had worked for was kinda taken from me," he said. "And so ever since then, like, that's just been on my mind. ... So this track season for me was kind of like -- I wanted to set the tone, you know, and say 'I'm coming' -- and so hopefully bringing home that state title did that, and I was really surprised."
Dew said that winning another state title will once again be his goal his senior season.
Haynes said that early in his running career, Dew suffered from nagging knee injuries which ultimately led to him sitting out a couple seasons. He explained that a rather unique situation occurred later, however, that totally changed the course of Dylan's athletic career while also marking a bright spot for the Rams' track team.
"One day we're in class and another teammate comes up and says, 'Hey, uh, you know, Dylan Dew just ran a 4:57 mile at band practice,'" he said. "I was like, 'What?' He goes, 'Yeah, he just ran a 4:57 mile at band practice.' And so I said, 'Let's go find Dylan.' And so we went on a search to find Dylan back, and it was just like, 'Time to come home. Come on back home.' And so he said, 'Well, we'll give it a whirl.'"
Haynes said Dew came back out after band practice, and in his first meet, as a sophomore, he ran with the best of them.
"You know, we have a real strong miler (senior Caleb Wrubleski), and we start the backstretch back there and (Dew) and my junior at the time, I mean, they're stride-for-stride on the backstretch," Haynes said. "And Dylan actually takes the lead right over there. Dylan takes the lead, comes around, and Caleb has to put on a massive kick right at the last 50 meters to edge him at the line. And I looked at somebody, and I said, 'We'd better keep an eye on Dylan because he's -- he's back.' And like from that time on, from that race on, Dylan has just had an incredible work ethic ... You know, you don't see any arrogance about him at all -- very humble. You know, one of the (American long-distance runner Steve) Prefontaine quotes was, 'We're both gonna hurt in this race. I'm just gonna make sure you hurt more than I did.' And that's kind of his mentality when he's goes out and runs is, he knows he's going to hurt ,but he's gonna make you hurt more than he does. I guess in the years that he's really been running competitively, I don't think I've seen him crack in a race yet where him and somebody else is just dogging it and Dylan be the one that breaks. I haven't seen that in him yet and hopefully I don't."
When asked what it is that drives him on the track, Dew said it's all about staying true to his goals.
"One quote that always sticks in my mind when I'm running or start hurting is like, 'How bad do you want it?'" he said. "Ever since I joined, it's been a goal of mine to bring home a team (title). Before that point, like, mentally-wise, I didn't really care about it. It was like, 'Whatever, let's just go run and have fun,' you know. But ever since then, that's always been the goal for me. And when it gets hard, that's just the thought -- 'How bad do you want this?' Like, it's gonna hurt, you know, and you got to make it hurt, but the work you put in now, it's gonna pay off and that's something that's just always driven me since."
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Boys Track & Field
Dylan Dew, junior, Lakeside, Class 5A state champion in 1600-meter (4:24.94), Meet of Champions third place (4:27.03), school record holder in 800-meter and 1600-meter
Tyrell Lambert, junior, Hot Springs, Class 5A state champion in triple jump, Meet of Champions runner-up in triple jump
Joseph Bariola, freshman, Lakeside, undefeated in 800-meter and 1600-meter in junior high, 5A-South Conference junior high champion in 400-meter (54.60 seconds), top freshman 1600-meter runner in Arkansas, No. 40 freshman 1600-meter runner in country, No. 2 freshman 800-meter runner in Arkansas, anchored 4x800-meter at Meet of Champions (1:57.30 split time)
Evan Lockwood, sophomore, Lakeside, finished 23rd overall in state decathlon (top sophomore), long jump (20-4), triple jump (41-2)
Hunter Johnson, senior, Lake Hamilton, All-Conference and All-State in pole vault, Class 5A state champion in pole vault (15-0), personal best of 16-1 in pole vault (No. 2 in Class 5A)
Steven DeArmon, senior, Fountain Lake, 4A-7 Conference champion in long jump (20-7.5), member of 4A-7 Conference runner-up in 4x100-meter relay
Landen Daley, senior, Jessieville, 3A-5 Conference champion in 110-meter hurdles, 300-meter hurdles and high jump