As a freshman, Dante Lechuga took the JV court with confidence, showing his team and the school that his skill was going to get him places — and it did. Later that season he joined the varsity team as they dominated the field with a 17-1 record and advanced to the Colorado 4A Final Four.
That season gave so many memories with Dante recalling his favorite being “scoring my first basket vs. Centaurus on the Varsity [my] freshman year in the playoffs. As well as suiting up when we went to the coliseum that year in the final four.”
With such a strong start, it was no surprise when his success continued throughout his next three years at Frederick, both in basketball and academics.
Dante continued putting his all into basketball, supporting his team on and off the court. These connections alongside his dedication earned him varsity captain his junior year. His success was only elevated as he earned “Most Improved Player” by the coaching staff his junior year and was listed as First Team All Conference that same year.
Then for his final season on the team, Dante resumed his position as Captain and was determined to make it his best season yet. The team went into the season strong as Dante contributed largely to the points every game. Soon after he broke Frederick’s Single Game Assist record with 15 assists against Skyline.
Dante explained how “being an athlete has taught me how to get past adversity. Which is super helpful in all aspects of life in my opinion.” Now, at the end of his high school career, Dante is looking forward to playing at the collegiate level with a commitment to Concordia University in Nebraska.
And although his reputation and execution on the court has primarily driven his high school career, Dante’s work in the classroom shouldn’t go unnoticed.
Beginning his freshman year, Dante has been enrolled in Frederick’s P-Tech program. The program is designed to allow a select group of students to earn their associates degree through Aims Community College (ACC) while in high school.
While in high school, Dante has taken various AP and college courses:AP Human Geography, AP Seminar, APUSH, AP Government, AP Biology, AP Language, AP Chemistry at Frederick. Then Statistics, Public Speaking, and Ethics at ACC.
Through his classes he grew close to Mr. Wellington, Ms. LeSage, and Mrs. Jones saying how “Mr. Wellington was also super chill and would even talk about football and basketball with me. Ms. Lesage is just the nicest teacher ever. Mrs. Jones my freshman year [as well] because she did a great job explaining content and was very nice.”
As Dante plans his college plans alongside basketball he is looking forward to pursuing a degree in Pre-Physical Therapy to become a Physical Therapist. He noted how he has always been interested in sports medicine and health and just how the body functions in general. He said that “this major sorta takes all those things into one and just sounds like a lot of fun to me!”
Outside of the classroom and the court, Dante’s passions align with sports in different ways while also allowing him to connect with the people around.
Dante talked about how “I was involved in GEBN. My role was mainly play by play for the football team. I even did some sideline reporting. This gave me a very different high school experience and often made watching games a lot more fun.” He then continued with how instead of being in the student section he was often calling plays and getting to see his commentary broadcasted on 9News.
He also enjoys watching movies and shows with his family, forming a special bond with his little sister and watching sports with his dad. Then in any other free time he pays a lot of NBA2k on his Xbox.
Over the last four years Dante has been on the court, commentated on the court, been a high achieving student, but most importantly — he’s been a person people can rely on.
