By: Ashtyn Becksford
We asked a team of boys cross country runners about an inspiring cross country runner, Abatu Dykstra. Answers varied, some thought differently than others. Before getting into the questions and answers, Abatu Dykstra is a senior at Hamilton High School. A cross country runner who recently went to state. He is always working hard to get to where he is now. Abatu broke the school record with a time of 15:35.
Here’s what the boys had to say,
“He helped me learn a lot about what I’m supposed to do when I’m running and about school,” says Zach Bain.
This is showing that Abatu is a caring person and wants his other teammates to succeed as well, not just athletics but academics too. On the other hand there were some boys who didn’t agree as much. When we asked Daniel Grabinski, “did Abatu motivate you to try harder in cross country?” He responded with something a little different.
“Not really, he kinda kept to himself,” says Daniel Grabinski.
This answer was definitely different and shows that Abatu is more quiet but is a great representative and is helpful to the team.
Ababtu is not an average senior, he’s great academically and athletically. Previously Abatu played soccer as well. He’s encouraging no matter who he’s with or what team he’s on. Not only does he try really hard in the races but he also tries really hard at the practices leading up to the race.
We asked a teammate of Abatu, “Did Abatu motivate you to try harder?”
“He would always tell us that like you gotta work hard at practice in order to do well at meets.” Says Grayson Dewys.
We interviewed Abatu a while back asking him to buy, sell, trade. Although this doesn’t flow with the topic of sports, he was really easy to work with and interview. This showed that Abatu is all around a good person.
