Mason Forhan

Hilldale High School

If you had to come up with one word to define Hilldale junior Mason Forhan it might be competitive. He’s a three-sport athlete in football, basketball, and track. This spring Mason is working on making his first trip to the state track championships in the shotput, which is really his focus, and the discus.

“Mason is a really unique young man,” said his track coach Josh McMillan. “He’s a hard worker which is really something that’s rare to come by today. We’re working on getting him above 40 feet in the shot this year which should give him a good shot at qualifying for state.”

Some athletes view the spring track season as a time-filler that’s not always taken seriously. But not Mason.

“I love to compete and was trying to find something to do in the spring except lift weights. I started track in eighth grade and was bigger and stronger than most of the other kids and I medaled in every meet I was in so I decided it was something I could stick with.I don’t do it just to kill time. If I do something I don’t want to be bad at it, so I’m not going to go out and just do it halfway.”

But as serious as he is about track, his first love is football.

“When I was in first grade, I had a temper and was in trouble a lot, so my parents put me in football to channel some of that negativity,” laughed Mason who is also in the National Honor Society and Math Club.

Forhan credits his mom for keeping him focused and motivated.

“I lost my dad two years ago and it was really hard on mom and me and it’s just the two of us. She’s always poured her love over me and cares for me so much and I just want to do my best for her.”

With the track season winding down, Mason recently got his PR in both the shotput and discus, going 42 feet, half an inch in the shot and 116 feet three inches in the discus so it looks like the state track meet could be in his future.