Pictured above, from left to right, are this year’s male All-Area Track & Field selections. They are: Justin Ballock, Eudora High; Chebon Dawes, Lawrence High; Connor Wright, Baldwin High; Keene Niemack (seated), Free State High; D.J. Lindsay, Tonganoxie High and Joel Gantz, Perry-Lecompton High. Not pictured: Will Pendleton, Lawrence High.

It’s not that Chebon Dawes needed more motivation to finish his high school career in grand style.

No, the three-sport Lawrence High standout — a rare breed these days — who had suffered through losing football seasons and the heartbreak of coming close in basketball wanted nothing more than to cap his career with the one thing that had eluded him — a championship.

But, in the interest of eternal elevation, Dawes found motivation in a simple bet between he and LHS track coach Jack Hood.

“I was sitting around one day, waiting for people to get to practice and Coach Hood and I got to talking about his old ID badge,” Dawes said. “He looked all scruffy and different in the photo so I just said, ‘If I get first place in the shot put, you have to grow out your goatee like you had in your photo. It just kind of went from there.”

And so did Dawes.

Disappointed by taking third in the discus on day one, Dawes responded with a monster effort on day two.

“The day before I was upset about not getting second place or better in the discus,” Dawes said. “Coach kept talking to me about how I was going to be remembered and what all those teams had to do to get their names on the banners. Walking down there I just had a feeling that this was my day, this was my event, I had to win this.”

And so he did.

With a final throw of 54 feet, more than a foot farther than his previous personal best, Dawes blew away the competition and capped his high school career with a state championship.

The irony behind Dawes’ title was befitting of a Lawrence High athlete.

“Chebon didn’t win the shot put, in a big meet, until state,” Hood said.

And now because of it, he’ll leave behind memories of a state title and a scruffy head coach. The bet stipulated that Hood, also an assistant football coach, had to grow out the facial hair until the first loss of the upcoming football season.

Although he didn’t win many meets along the way, Dawes was a force throughout the season. While improving each week, he put himself in the hunt for every gold medal, usually falling one or two places shy of the top spot.

“Coach is always talking about you need to improve, improve, improve,” Dawes said. “I followed that line. At every meet, I either improved by a foot or barely missed my PR.”

Dawes, a defensive lineman, will continue his athletic career this fall as a member of the Butler County Community College football team.

While his future is in football, he’ll always remember the other sports he played, too.

“Definitely,” he said. “There’s not too many people out there who do three sports anymore. I was luckily one of those guys.”