Spring Sport Senior Spotlight
Chesterton High School
TRACK AND FIELD
Dylan Draves
Parents and other sports/clubs:
Dylan is the son of Vivian & Richard Draves
Dylan is also a two sport athlete who also ran Cross Country and was involved in Academia Cup, Academic Superbowl, Academic Quizbowl, and National Honor Society
Plans after high school
Dylan plans to attend Indiana University to study neuroscience
Message to parents
Patience is virtue when raising a child, and I am extremely grateful to all of the parents that take time out of their day to come to their own child's events and supporting them through it all. There is no singular way to raise a child, and there is no set guide, yet you find ways to fulfill that difficult role, and I applaud you. Thank you.
Message to teammates
I cannot be anymore thankful to all the people that I can call teammates. Each of you guys have given me so many different things from an identity to social skills to just plain fun. It is a tragedy that we must separate, but I wish you all the best of luck. May your futures be as bright as the shining stars in the sky. Just remember that Winston gives his regards.
Message to coaches
For the coaches of both my sports and other sports, you provide a crucial service to all athletes around the world. You provide the groundwork for them to thrive and demonstrate important life lessons that can affect them in the future. My two coaches of Tim Ray and Tom Moeller has done so much for me that I cannot condense into a singular passage, but from the bottom of my heart, thank you.
Favorite moment of this sport at Chesterton High School
Although I love the moment where my cross county team got called down to state, that isn't my all time favorite moment. My favorite moment is right when we got on the SPV to go to State. There are three reason why this is my favorite moment. The first is the understanding that I am going on that vehicle not to watch a race like my previous 3 years, but to actually compete. Everything that I did, all the pain and suffering has led up to this moment, and it has all been worth it. Second, the recognition from the parents. It's easy to tell a runner 'good job' after a race, but to make posters, bags of goodies, designs on the SPV, and to take time out of their working career on a Friday morning to wave us off, now that's some recognition. I still have that poster on my wall of my bedroom just to make me smile. Finally, it was a specific interaction with my teammates and coaches. State is one week after Semi-State, and when we won, I wanted to do something special for all of the runners and coaches. I decided to write 15 individual letters regarding each of them. If I recall, it was a total of about 6000 words. I wanted to be able to thank them for everything they have done for me because I felt it was the least I could do in exchange for everything they gave me. When we got on the SPV, I slipped the letters into each of the bags and went into my seat. About 10 minutes later, each of them were reaching in their bags and saw a piece of paper. One by one, each of them read it, and I saw absolute joy in their eyes. They were thanking me, hugging me, and even some of them were competing to see which had the best letter. That sight will stick with me for the rest of my life as my ability to truly be a part of a community and make an impact. One of the things that makes me the happiest is that some of them still have their letters, so if they ever need to feel happy or get out of a rough patch, the letter is always available.