Dillon Sonntag likes to spend his free time doing things like playing NBA2K with his friends, disc golfing at Sunnyside Park and shooting hoops. His favorite place to sit and relax is in a tree stand while hunting. Sonntag got his first deer when he was eight years old with a compound bow, and later won his first turkey in 2016.

Outside of hunting, track is his passion. Sonntag was able to compete in the Drake Relays twice: running the 4×400 in 2017 and the distance medley in 2018. In 2017, the 4×400 finished 21st overall. Then in 2018, he and the rest of the runners in the distance medley ran a time of 3:32 to earn them a fourth-place finish, also breaking the previous school record by two seconds. Being able to run at the Drake Relays was a great experience for Sonntag.

Another sport of Sonntag’s helped create his favorite memory of high school: beating Creston in his final Homecoming football game. “It was a very big game for us,” Sonntag said. This was Atlantic’s first Homecoming victory since 2012.

After high school, Sonntag plans to join the military, swearing into the United States Marine Corp. It wasn’t until middle school that Sonntag was interested in joining the military; he had wanted to be a college football player when he was younger. Kyle Nelson, a 2017 graduate, was a big influence on Sonntag and is one of the main reasons he is going to the Marines. Sonntag will leave for basic training on July 9 and return sometime in October.