Untitled Document

Very Independent

PHS track standout Dustin Dellerman defines full schedule with school, work and living on his own

By JIM HENRY
Morning Sun Staff Writer

School and track practice comprise only part of the day for Pittsburg High School senior Dustin Dellerman.

He lives on his own, and with the accompanying living expenses, Dellerman also holds down a full-time job at Superior, helping manufacture automobile wheels 40 hours a week or more.

"I work from 11 to 7 at night, then shower and hurry and go to school,'' Dellerman said. "I have alternative school, and when I get that done, I go to school, go to track practice, go home, go to sleep, then do it all again.''

Dellerman has been living on his own for most of the last 15 months.

"My parents beg me to come back all the time,'' he said. "I want to live on my own. I feel more comfortable being independent than depending on somebody else.

"The reason I work full time is I want nice things. All my life, if I have something, it's because I earn it. I won't take anything without earning it or at least trying to give back.

"It is a long day,'' he admitted. "Actually I think about that quite often, but then I look back, and if I'm not doing it ... I like to think of myself as a not-average kid. If I do just quit my job and move back home, I'll just be an average kid. I won't have any money to spend on what I want. That's what I do is spend on what I want and what I need. It's all up to me.''

Dellerman's school day starts with alternative school, which has academic expectations but allows students to work at their own pace.

"It helps in this situation,'' Dellerman said. "I don't have to go straight to school at 7 o'clock and start working on stuff. I work at my own pace. I can get it all done real quick, or I can work on it a little bit, and if I'm really tired that day, I'll go to sleep for an hour and then maybe tomorrow make it up.''

"Working a night shift and then coming straight to school and straight to practice, then start it back over again ... I don't know how he can keep up with everything that he is doing,'' Purple Dragons track coach Gary Ausemus said. "It's just quite a testament to him to have the desire that he does. The guy has so much heart and desire for track, and that's exactly what keeps him going.''

In addition to heart and desire, Dellerman also has talent for track. His latest accomplishment came last Friday at the Chanute Relays when he tied the school record of 14.99 seconds in the 110-meter high hurdles. The record had been held by Vance Rogers since 1937.

Dellerman also owns the school record in the 300 intermediate hurdles (42.0), and he runs on two relays - the 4x800 and the 4x400.

"They put me in the 4x800 this year,'' Dellerman said. "It's a little bit different. That's a wide range of running from 110 to 800, but I'll do what's best for the team.

"My favorite event is the 300 hurdles, then the 4x400. It's me and my friends in the 4x400. The 300, it's an individual thing to see what I can do.

"In the 300, the fact is if I lose, it's all on me. It's my fault. If you don't have the mentality to go over the hurdles (just right), you're either going to jump over really high and lose time or hit the hurdle, hit the track and lose time.''

"He just has a lot of ability,'' Ausemus said. "When he steps on the track, you never know what he's going to pull off. What he's doing now with the rest he gets, when he goes to the next level, who knows what he can do.''

Actually, Dellerman doesn't get much rest at the track meet either.

"He runs the lead leg on the 4x800, then a few minutes later he's in the finals of the 110 hurdles,'' Ausemus said. "He had five or 10 minutes rest max, and he tied the school record.

"An hour later, he runs a 300 hurdles, and a short time after that he's running the 4x400. When he gets to the state meet, his times could drop. You never know what he could top out at, having so much more rest in between events.''

Dellerman plans to continue his track career at Hutchinson Community College.

"They graduated the second and sixth fastest hurdlers in the nation,'' he said. "That's the best place for me to be.''

And with high school ending later this month, Dellerman doesn't plan on having new-found free time during the day.

"Whenever summer comes along, I hope to maybe get a construction job to replace school so I can also do Superior,'' he said.

The Morning Sun, (www.morningsun.net) May 11 , 2006