BFS High School Athlete of the Year
BFS H.S. of the Year. He becomes our eighth annual recipient of this most pretigious award since we began in 1980. The award is based on athletic achievement in sports, the ability to overcome obstacles, scholarship, leadership, general character and the ability to put things in their right perspective. Dalton has proved to be a great example in all of the above areas and is most deserving of this honor. We have known about Dalton for four years. As a ninth and tenth grader, he made our BFS Football AllAmerican second team. As a senior, Dalton was a first team All-American selection (See pages 28-29). Dalton has just kept working and working and getting better.
He has improved substantially in all areas every year. When he was in the ninth grade, Dalton was 5-9 228 and ran the 40 in 5.2 seconds. He benched 365, squatted 425, dead lifted 400 and power cleaned 264 pounds while maintaining a 3.67 grade point average. As outstanding as these marks were, Dalton kept improving. The thought of standing still never occurred to Dalton Young. Dalton is now 18 and just beginning his freshman year at the University of Oklahoma He's 6-1 285 and runs a 5.0 forty. Dalton bulges out all over with a thick 22 inch neck, a massive 51 inch chest, a 31 inch thigh and a 19 inch bicep.
In the Young's garage, Dalton has benched 517, cleaned 305, dead lifted 610 and squatted a legitimate 700 pounds for Oklahoma Strength Coach, Pete Martinelli. Coach Martinelli, an ex-powerlifting champion said, "Dalton did a good 700 pound squat. To have a freshman come in and outdo everybody was really something." Dalton also does his curls with 336 pounds, inclines 380 and has a 32 inch vertical jump. Dalton attended Sayre High School in Oklahoma which has an enrollment of only about 200 students. Nevertheless, Dalton was a first team All-State Offensive Guard in Oklahoma.
This is significant because unlike most states, Oklahoma selects just one true All-State football team made up of players from all school classifications. He was also selected to represent Oklahoma in the annual Oil Bowl against the best high school players from Texas. Many felt that Dalton was the best lineman on the field as the Oklahoma All-Stars shut out Texas for the first time. Dalton made the key block to spring his Oklahoma back for the game's only touchdown. Dalton started in 46 games in high school and never missed a game or a practice because of an injury. Dalton was also an outstanding defensive player but was recruited mostly for his offensive prowess.
His senior year was special. In regular season play, the Sayre Eagles went 10-0 for the first perfect season in the school's history. "Coach David Atterberry and my line coach Randy Price did a great job" says Dalton. Coach Atterberry has this to say about Dalton, ''I've Dalton was a 3 time State Champion in Oklahoma in both the Shot Put and Discus. Best Shot 59-10. Best Discus 185-6 Dalton squatting 615 in his garage. His dad is spotting. Dalton squatted 700 for the University of Oklahoma football in pre-season testing. Highest on the team.
Dalton was a 1st Team All-State Guard. Played in Oklahoma-Texas Oil Bowl. coached for 20 years and never ran across an athlete like Dalton. He's a yes sir-no sir person to anyone. Dalton's a good Christian man and that's more important to us than all his other accomplishments. In football, we felt like he could block anyone. As for the team and school, Dalton fit in super with the kids. My last year with Dalton and the rest of the team made coaching worthwhile. The seniors had a combined GPA of 3.42 and were leaders throughout the school. It was a great great year." What really swung the pendulum over to Dalton's Athlete of the Year selection was his academic excellence.
Dalton achieved a 4.0 average in his last two years of high school, making his overall high school accumulative average 3.85. He received an ACT score of 26 and an SAT score of 1170. But you know what Dalton does in his spare time? He takes college courses' He entered the University of Oklahoma with a total of 56 hours. That's roughly equivalent to two full years of college! Dalton has received all A's in every college class thus far. He's got it all figured out. ''I'll have my Bachelors Degree in 2 years and a Masters in Math at the end of 3 years. Since everyone is red shirted their freshman year, I'll be a fifth year senior and I plan to have my doctorate at graduation time for my class.
I want to be the first player in college to earn a doctorate while on a football scholarship." 25 "I Want To Be The First Guy To Play Football at Oklahoma and Get A Doctorate While Still Playing." Dalton Young Dalton Young's family of brother, Doug, and parents, Kay and Dalton Young Sr., have totally supported Dalton with his sports, weights, school work and with the spiritual side of life. Dalton Young, Sr. caught the vision early in his boy's life. Younger Dalton remembers, "I started with dad in the garage with a K-Mart special. Was it too early to begin? Dalton answered, "I enjoyed it. I'm not burned out. It gave me something to do. It was like a game.
It helped my relationship with my father and brother. A lot of people go fishin' or campin'. We had our special times in the weight room. My dad is an evangelist and has been a big inspiration. He didn't push us too hard. I think he did it just right." Beginning in the seventh grade, Mr. Young would take Dalton to National Track meets to compete in the shot, discus and javelin. He's won over 179 medals and six national championships in those earlier years. In his 9th and 10th grade years, he played for Cascia Hall in 26 Tulsa before moving to Sayre. At Cascia, Dalton was the only freshman to make the Tulsa All City and Metro Football Team.
In high school track, Dalton was the only Oklahoma athlete to win the State Championship in both shot and discus three years in a row. Dalton: visited schools like Tennessee and Baylor but accepted an academic scholarship at Oklahoma. "I've always wanted to be a Sooner," remarked Dalton. "It's been a dream." Does all the attention go to his head? I'll let you judge. Dalton was quoted by USA Today when asked about college football, ''I'll do anything to help Oklahoma's team, even if I have to be a tackling dummy." Dalton has displayed leadership by speaking at Baptist Youth groups and says, "The key to success is hard work.
Continued on Page 30 Dalton has Benched over 500 pounds in his dad's garage!!! Last year Sayre High School went 10-0 and rushed for 2,900 yards. 2,200 of those yards were behind Dalton. The team scored 29 TD's: 26 of them behind Dalton!
You go until you drop and then go again. Give 100% effort to anything you do. Don't d rink or do drugs. Study hard and get good grades. Don't wait the night before the test to study. Study as you go along. Be respectful to your parents." I asked Dalton "You got a girlfriend yeP" "HA!"he roared. "Have you thought about pro footb,dJ?" came the next question after laughing at Dalton's last response. Dalton answered like a man very much aware.' ''I'd like to play," Dalton said. ''I'd play if they asked me but because of my lack of height and maybe lack of quickness, they might not want me. It's a possibility but right now T have my education and Oklahoma football."
Something that makes Dalton mad is when people ask him if he takes steroids. Dalton explilined, ''I've worked hard for 8 years, ever since I WilS 10 years old to get where I'm at. I won't ever take steroids." Dalton's mother is also a big supporter of her son. "My mom," beamed Dalton, "she's the best in the world. She feeds us like you can't believe and my mom's also our assist,mt trilck coach." Dalton also has a great perspective on winning and losing. "Just be able to hold your head high because you've done your best. Never downgrade your teammates or your coaches. Just feeJ Jucky that you have had the opportunity to play. When you do win, do it graciously.
Always praise your teammates ,md coaches." ''I've always tried to do the right thing and lead a good Christian life. It's helped me keep things in the right perspective. It's probably kept me out of trouble. I've been able to talk to the Lord and it's helped me in every aspect of my life," concluded Dalton. We thank Dalton for being so speciaJ ilnd being an upper limit example. We wish him well at his new challenges at the University of Oklahoma. We thank his parents and family for their leadership and example. We thank Coach Atterberry for his assistance. Everyone should agree that Dalton Young is a worthy recipient of being the BFS High School Athlete of the Year..
Dalton signing his Jetter of intent to Oklahoma. Prelude to Academic Scholarship. Shown with Dalton are his proud parents, principals, and Coach David Atterberry. 30
From BFS Magazine — November/December 1987. Part of the BFS Magazine Archive (1980–2014).
