Muscle man: Trinity 2-sport athlete utilizes strength, size

May 17, 2017

Whether he’s at the track or on the football field, Dylan McKain is the muscle.

McKain has always been a lineman in football and thrown the shot put and discus in track.

Since Trinity doesn’t have a coach in the shot put and discus, McKain has taught himself through watching training films and videos, seeing athletes on TV and other athletes in competition, and received tips from his teammates.

“All my life I’ve watched people do things right-handed and I can just switch it over,” McKain said. “In discus you either power or spin, and I spin. You have to have the proper form, 100 percent. You could be the biggest, strongest guy out there and you’re not going to throw it at all unless you have good form.”

McKain said his best throw is 116-feet, 3-inches in discus, and the school record is 117-3. He is pleased with his improvement because at the start of the season he was throwing in the 90s.

“(My best throw) is usually in the middle because I try to start easy and keep adding on,” McKain said. “Sometimes I add too much and it just doesn’t go anywhere. I zone things out because if I start thinking about it I make mistakes.”

He said his best shot put has been 39-1.

“I glide,” McKain said of his technique in shot. “You’ve got to push and you’ve got to explode through it. You’ve just got to use your whole body.

“That’s pretty much brute strength, push as hard as you can because if you drop down you’ll throw it straight. You can have enough power, but if you don’t have the height it’s not going to go anywhere. You’ve got to have strong legs and strong shoulders.”

He said he lifts weights throughout the season. He said spending time in the weight room really helped his strength, especially in football.

He weighed 255 pounds during football season and now weights 280.

McKain likes the big meets during the season.

“When you have more competitors you have to push yourself more,” McKain said. “You want to do everything you can to get in the finals, and then you want to keep adding distance.”

In football, McKain was a two-way lineman in football and said he preferred to play defense.

McKain helped the Indianapolis Crimson Knights advance to the National Home School Tournament in Florida where they finished third.

“It was really cool to be able to go down there and see a bunch of different teams, and see how big the home school program is,” McKain said. “It’s not just small teams. There were some really big teams. It was really competitive.”

McKain said he recalled beginning his football career at Immanuel Lutheran School.

“Back at Immanuel our team was the first team to play a game on it so it’s really cool to see all that has come to our program,” McKain said.

In any sport, McKain knows the importance of practice.

“In both sports it just comes down to being repetitive,” McKain said. “You have to get everything down and have your form right otherwise things go wrong. You have to feel comfortable and not tense and worry about things. Otherwise you not going to get things right. It has to be second nature to you.”

He said during football season he enjoyed being teams’ homecoming opponents.

The senior has enjoyed attending Trinity.

“I really like it here (at Trinity),” McKain said. “I like it better because you know everybody here. Everybody knows everybody and to me it feels more like a family within the classes instead of a bunch of random people.

“The teachers are always there to help you. I’ve enjoyed the connections I’ve made, and I’ve enjoyed the friends I’ve made.”

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Name: Dylan McKain

School: Trinity Lutheran

Parents: Joe and Barbara McKain

Sibling: Kayla

Sports: track 4 years, football 3 years

Athletic honors: football: placed third at National Homeschool Tournament, outstanding defensive player, most improved player

Organizations: choir, band, drama, Euchre Club

Plans after high school: attend Indiana University Purdue University for business

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