Parker Dunn is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Horizon Honors High School for AZPreps365.com

It is Dillon Carlson’s senior year at Horizon Honors and he is running forward with determination in his eyes, as he is set on the ultimate achievement, making state in cross country. But how did he get to this point?

And will it end with his ultimate destination -- lining up at the start line on Nov. 13 at Cross Roads Park in Gilbert, for the Division IV AIA Cross Country State Championships?

The only way to tell Carlson’s story properly is to journey back to where this motivation and passion for running all began. It was a fateful night during the summer between his freshman and sophomore year, when his sister simply asked him if he wanted to go for a quick run.

“We ran a couple miles and then my mom came and picked us up. It was easy for me and it was just fun to go out and run,” Carlson said.

Following this seemingly insignificant moment, his mother posed the question to him his sophomore year: “Hey would you want to try cross country?” Yes, he decided, because running was in his family. His sister ran track and his uncle also competed in cross country.

Fast forward a few years, and Carlson is now a senior at Horizon Honors and is proudly carrying on the family tradition of running. This season, he has competed in four events: Chandler Invitational, Western Equinox XC Festival, 7th Annual Titan Invite and The Phoenix Classic. Carlson’s best time of the season came in the Titan Invite, where he finished in 21:35.8.

“Running was a big part of our family when he was growing up. It’s a great community that fosters friendships and builds dedication and work ethic,” said Carlson’s uncle, Christopher Carlson.

Said Carlson: “My uncle actually did cross country and I really looked up to him when I was younger, so I said sure why not, let’s give it a shot and see what happens."

Soon Carlson began doing everything in his power to work on his craft and get better every single day. He has done everything from train before organized team practices to changing his entire diet with hopes it will improve his mind and body.

“I started practicing and running before the season. I’m eating different and I’m starting to try and push myself at practice,” Carlson said.

“This year was the first year that I personally chose to practice before the cross country season began, it was hard for me due to the fact that I had to manage things like summer school, and watching my little brother during the day,” said Carlson. “I would often wake up at 5:30 and go on a mile run (and) I would make sure to push myself the whole time.”

According to his coach David Sheveland, Carlson has proven to be the best athlete on the team. There is never a second where he has not put in the work to continue to improve, Sheveland said.

“For the last two years I was the fastest on the team and I kind of want to keep that, so at practice I try to push myself when the other kids are getting close to me,” Carlson said.

The biggest dietary switch came last year when he decided to go vegan after witnessing some of his friends change their meals. Another factor in his decision came when he watched “Game Changers,” a Netflix documentary that describes how blood flows after intaking meat.

“Last year toward the end of the season was when I looked into (going vegan) and decided to make the change. I definitely have seen improvements and changes since then. I really enjoy seeing the change because I obviously want to progress,” Carlson said.

Saying that Carlson has a good work ethic would be an understatement. He is always finding creative ways to motivate himself further and take his athletic abilities to the next level even without a large sample of other runners to push him every single day at practice.

Carlson has proudly represented Horizon Honors and its small Div. 4 cross country team for three of his four years now.

“My team isn’t as big as other teams are,” he said. “Our school is not as fast as those teams, so obviously seeing the other teams motivates me to push myself. I’ll try to find a group that I know is maybe a little bit faster than me and try to keep with them or stay as close as I can to them.”

Carlson works hard every day with the upcoming state championships in the back of his mind. First up are the Div. 4 sectionals Nov 4, which are also being held at the rolling hills course of Cross Roads Park. As this momentous juncture in his high school running career approaches, Carlson’s mindset and approach to the sport have caught the attention of his coach and teammates.

“I like how Dillon is very hard-working and I've only known him since cross country started, but I can easily tell that he is very self-motivated and a hard worker,” his teammate Gael Pacheco-Gimenez said.

There is nothing but positive things to be said about Carlson’s level of dedication he has shown throughout his tenure with Horizon Honors, especially this season.

“Both of us sat down at the beginning of the year and he has some goals. He is pretty driven to want to qualify for state this year,” Sheveland said.

Carlson’s level of enthusiasm and drive to be great has certainly carried over to other members of the team. His routine is infectious to those around him, should they be able to keep up with him once the starter pistol goes off.

“Dillon pushes me a lot because we run at a similar pace, so we are constantly on each other’s backs. Another way he motivates me is the fact that he is very committed to not only cross country but to running in general,” Pacheco-Gimenez said.

Carlson is not one to dwell on past experiences. Instead, he uses previous races to fuel something he will never forget.

“My best time was at sectionals last year, the time was 20:48.8. Last year, I was about 10 places off. Honestly, I think that I didn’t push myself hard enough during the season and that led to me not reaching the best of my abilities,” Carlson said.

“Last year when I didn’t make it, I was really, really disappointed,” he added. “I walked away right after and kind of had a moment to myself and thought about it and realized I wasn’t pushing myself enough and decided, hey I’ve got to push myself if I really want this.”

With all of the attention to detail he has put on achieving this ultimate goal, Carlson has not really had the chance to think just what kind of emotions he’ll experience should he find himself crossing the finish line Nov. 13, somewhere in a pack of Arizona’s top Div. 4 runners.

“I don’t know how I’d react... If I did it, I’d be really proud of myself because that means I pushed myself enough to be in that top 25 I believe,” Carlson said. “There’s a lot of kids so if I’m able to do that, that’s something I feel like I should be really proud of.”