Skagit Valley Herald Boys' Athlete of the Year: Dylan Rowell

It has been quite the run - literally - for Anacortes High School's Dylan Rowell.

The senior capped his prep career with four state titles at the Class 2A State Track and Field Championships, and led the Seahawks to a third consecutive state boys' team title.

In cross country, he became the first runner in Skagit County history to win multiple state titles as he won a second Class 2A state title.

Rowell is the Skagit Valley Herald Boys' Athlete of the Year.

He was also the Skagit Valley Herald Boys' Track and Field Athlete of the Year and the Boys' Cross Country Runner of the Year.

"What an honor," Rowell said. "It was a really good year for me."

That's putting it mildly.

A couple weeks after setting four state Class 2A track and field records, Rowell won the one-mile race at the Brooks PR Invitational in Renton in a personal-record 3 minutes, 59.93 seconds.

"Honestly, I just went down there and focused on having fun and giving myself a shot," Rowell said of running a sub 4-minute mile. "I wasn't even tapered (training) at that point either. I was kind of getting just into that. I was having some really really good workouts. Obviously, I had really good races at state and my confidence was at an all-time high. I'm never going to go into a race thinking I can't win it, even with those guys at the line with me."

Breaking the 4-minute mile did, however, somewhat surprise Rowell.

"Going down there and breaking four (minutes) actually was a little insane," he said. "I still haven't really processed it. It's the fastest mile I've ever ran."

Anacortes coach Brad Templeton figured Rowell had that time in him.

"Dylan and I were communicating over the winter about his goals for the spring," Templeton said. "We came to a consensus that a reasonable goal would be sub 8:50 in the 3,200 (meters) and sub 4:05 in the 1,600. That would have been big improvements from his junior year performances."

And running a sub 4-minute mile?

"I thought it might be a possibility," Templeton said. "You never really know what a senior athlete is going to do once they realize they can't come back and do it over again.

"Once he ran 4:03 at districts, I knew he would go sub four, we both did. The funny thing was we never once spoke to each other about it. I suppose we didn't want to jinx the possibility."

When asked which endeavor - track or cross country - does he favor, Rowell said they are both similar and at the same time very different.

He said while both sports are grueling at times, the 5,000-meter distance in cross country is the most grueling effort.

"You just have to be so mentally prepared," he said. "Then physically, it's a mix. You have to have your anaerobic strength and your aerobic base. You have to have the speed to go close in that final thousand. It's definitely the most painful race."

Rowell has certainly come a long way since his freshman year.

"My first 5K in cross country in high school was like 17:57," he said. "I've dropped a lot of time since then. It's all about the training. I just needed to do more. I honestly thought I was pretty good at it."

As it turns out, he was right.

"I'm absolutely bamboozled about the fact I have improved so much," Rowell said. "If you would have told me that I'd be doing this right now when I was freshman, I'd have called you crazy. But there has been a lot that has gone into this. Teammates, my family and you have to take care of yourself. Train, eat right, recover right, sleep right, do everything right."

Now Rowell is off to Gonzaga University, where he will be a freshman again.

"It's a weird feeling," he said. "From literally going just a couple weeks ago from being at the top of the world and now to being a bottom feeder who has to prove himself. Beater. It's going to be a new start and I'm definitely looking forward to it."

Rowell has goals of running in the Olympics, and competing professionally.

"There's even more stuff now that I can achieve," he said. "I'm happy right now. I'm in a good place because there is more for me to achieve."

Rowell said he realizes he couldn't have accomplished what he has within a ton of support.

"I'm just really grateful for all the support from the Anacortes community, my family, my coaches, everyone who helped me along the way," he said. "It has been a really, really cool four years and I'm excited to hopefully get to race five more years with the same people around me."

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