‘Perfect role model’: Deer Park grad Hunter Dryden, a two-sport athlete, is as good as it gets
Everyone has been hit hard this spring by worldwide health concerns, in all different sorts of ways. For high school seniors, it has been an emotional roller coaster, filled with questions about spring activities, including prom, sports, even graduation ceremonies.
For Deer Park High School’s Hunter Dryden, current senior class president and two-sport athlete, it’s been, as he put it, “crazy and heartbreaking.”
“I guess some kids are happy that school is closed for the year,” he said, “but I enjoy school, and it makes me sad that I don’t have the rest of my senior year, even though I know that it’s for the best. When I’m older, I know that I’ll look back and think about what I missed.”
Dryden has grown up in Deer Park and loves the small-town feel of the community and the school. He has friends that he’s known since kindergarten.
His academic, athletic and leadership résumé at DPHS is impeccable. He has a 4.0 GPA and is a co-valedictorian in the senior class, having completed every honors and Advanced Placement course available, along with six concurrent university classes from Central Washington and Eastern Washington universities.
He’s been a varsity athlete in basketball and baseball since his freshman year and will attend Whitworth next year, major in pre-dentistry, and play baseball there. He was selected to the Northeast A League All-League baseball team the past two seasons and last spring was a WIAA Athlete of the Week.
In addition to his student government involvement, Dryden has done extensive volunteer work with the Little League program in Deer Park and is part of the high school Renaissance program, which provides mentoring for younger students during their freshman year.
Deer Park baseball coach Darren Snyder is Dryden’s biggest cheerleader.
“Hunter is as good as it gets,” Snyder said. “He is a perfect role model in the school and in the community. He is a quiet leader who leads by doing what you’re supposed to do. He is 100% committed all the time, and he works as hard as any kid I’ve ever seen.
“He’s been a big part of making our baseball program competitive again. It’s difficult to be as advertised when everyone’s telling you how great you are, but Hunter has never acted like he thought he was a big deal.”
“I push myself and I push others,” Dryden said, “but it’s easier for me to lead by example and show what needs to happen. I’m just not as comfortable being real vocal.
“It’s important for me to be a good teammate and to not only improve myself, but to help others to grow as well. That’s the way my parents raised me. You can’t win by yourself, so if you want to be successful you need to try to help everybody else to be better, too.”
His favorite high school memories include some special sports moments, including making it to the Washington Class A Basketball Tournament his junior year, qualifying for baseball playoffs as a freshman, and hitting his first home run.
Now, during a difficult spring, he’s looking forward to making new memories.