By Terrence Echols
Staff Writer
Jamesville-DeWitt High School sophomore Patrick Dye placed 13th in the state for Class B and so is one of the top long distance runners in the state of New York. This year Dye, who was ranked second in the section, led the J-DHS Varsity Boys Cross Country team to the sectional championship victory. Sophomore runner Nick Palin said that Pat, along with seniors Brady Wing and Matt Murad, “led the team.” “Patrick is an amazing leader,” said fellow sophomore runner Jake Haron. Dye loves all of his teammates but he loves to win just as much. “He’s got the drive and the physical ability; he has no limits,” said Varsity Boys Cross Country Head Coach Emily Rowles.
Running is surprisingly not Dye’s first sport. In fact, he has only been running competitive for four years. “I started running because I thought I’d be good at it.” said Dye. He spent most of his elementary and middle school years playing team sports like basketball, soccer and baseball. Now, Dye spends his fall running cross country, his winter running indoor track, and his spring running outdoor track. Dye used to often travel around New York for basketball and soccer tournaments. How does he feel about the lack of variety in sports? “I really don’t miss playing baseball or soccer, I just miss playing basketball” said Dye.
It seems he made a good choice to switch. His fastest mile time is 4 minutes, 34 seconds. His fastest race time is 16 minutes 29 (5k). Dye also enjoys running in races in the Syracuse area. Each year, Dye runs in the Race For The Cure and in the 5k at the Boilermaker where he came in fourth place last year. On a typical day, Dye will run 45 minutes, but will run for 70 minutes on a long run. Sophomore Hal Shulman, a friend of Dye, was surprised at how much he runs; “you can do a lot in 70 minutes.”
Though he did not start running cross country until he was in high school, Dye saw his long distance talents emerge when he starred on the Jamesville-DeWitt Middle School track team. As an eighth grader, Dye was the team’s best long distance runner, breaking the middle school record for the 1500m race. Once he began running cross country as a freshman, Dye said he noticed he was better than most of the other runners. Dye became the team’s leading runner as a freshman and hasn’t looked back at the people trailing behind him since.
Dye enjoys the support from his friends and family. “Everyone in my family runs” said Dye. With Dye’s great work ethic and physical skills, he hopes that the future can be very bright. Sophomore Harshal Nanavati who has ran with Dye and is also his friend said “By his senior year, he can become an excellent student athlete.”
Dye hopes to run in DI in college, most likely cross-country, indoor track and outdoor track. He says he likes track and cross country equally. Though he has received letter from NYU and Fairfield, Dye has yet to make a decision on where to run in college because he has plenty of time to chose. To keep improving, he will attend a track camp called Aim High in the Adirondacks next summer where he will learn from successful college runners. “He has the potential to go to a high D1 school” said sophomore Andrew Leclair who is a fan of Dye. ”I believe he can go where ever he wants,” said Rowles.