By KLINT SPILLER

kspiller@dailynews.net

Hays High School senior Adam Deterding had big dreams early on in his high school career.

Deterding wanted to compete at the highest level. On Wednesday at the HHS dining hall, he came one step closer to achieving those dreams when he signed his letter of intent to participate in track and field at Kansas State University.

Deterding, also an all-WAC football player, entertained the possibility of playing football in college, but it likely would have been at an NCAA Division II institution.

"It was the whole Big 12, D1 ambitions that I've always had, and so that's what kind of brought me to track," Deterding said.

Early in his recruiting, Deterding, who wants to major in petroleum geology, said Pittsburg State University and Wichita State University were the frontrunners. Deterding considered doing football and track at Pitt or just track at WSU.

But then K-State and University of Oklahoma entered the equation in early winter and moved to the front in Deterding's mind.

Deterding said K-State's coaches were what ultimately swayed him. Plus, it didn't hurt Manhattan was closer to home than Norman, Okla.

"The facilities (at K-State and OU) were both phenomenal, obviously coming from Division I places," Deterding said. "The towns and the environment were great in both places. The coaching experience at K-State was a lot better."

Deterding, who has won state twice in the 110-meter hurdles and once in the high jump, would like to be a decathlete at K-State.

"It's always been a dream of mine to do it, so that's what I'm going to set my mind to in the next couple years," he said.

The decathlon involves the 100-meter dash, 400-meter dash, 1,500-meter run, long jump, high jump, shot put, discus, javelin, 110-meter hurdles and pole vault. Deterding said he'll need to be introduced to some events, such as the javelin throw and pole vault.

"Those are the two I have no background in," he said.

That shouldn't be too much of a problem for Deterding, who didn't seriously attempt the hurdles until his sophomore season. By the end of his sophomore year, he was the state champion.

"We tried him in the hurdles as a freshman, and he was terrible," said Hays High track and field coach Ryan Cornelsen. "We took him out of them and put him in other events. Then we came back to it as a sophomore. I kept looking at his frame and thought he's got to be a hurdler. He got to where he could do it good, really fast."

Deterding has played an instrumental role in Hays High's three state track and field championships, scoring points in all three seasons. His junior season was his best so far, taking first in the high jump and 110 hurdles and sixth in the triple jump.

"To be a kid that can score the kind of points he can score and to do it in several different events, you've got to have kids like that to have a chance to win," Cornelsen said. "We are fortunate to have him and have several kids like him."