Athlete Spotlight: Dakota Orndorff

Posted: August 13, 2013

By ROBERT NIEDZWIECKI
The Winchester Star

17-year-old senior

Sport: Football

Position: Wide receiver/Cornerback

Twitter handle: @kotaburr69

Parents: Mike and Donna Orndorff

Hometown: Winchester

What you love about football: Just the adrenaline.

Biggest strength and weakness in football: [Strength], my hands. [Weakness], my strength.

Funniest person on your team: [James Wood assistant football] Coach [Bryan] Smelser. He just runs around and yells at people. And his eyes [can look funny] when he gets serious.

Something a lot of people don’t know about your coach (Mark McHale): He’s really religious. (For example, James Wood ends practices by saying an “Our Father.”)

Most memorable moment in football: Probably catching a touchdown against Sherando last year. (Orndorff caught a 13-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter.) That was one of our only scores that game. It came on a curl route.

Most embarrassing moment in wrestling: I’ve had multiple. Probably getting run over by [former Handley star and current Penn State defensive lineman] Derek Dowrey my sophomore year. He was playing fullback, and it was run right up the middle, and I was playing safety. He just pretty much knocked me over.

Favorite athlete: [New York Yankees closer] Mariano Rivera. He’s 43 years old, and he can still close out baseball games. He’s one of the best closers still.

Favorite sports team: New York Yankees. I was kind of born into it, because my dad’s a big Yankees fan.

Three people you can have dinner with, dead or alive: [Former Brooklyn Dodger Hall of Famer] Jackie Robinson, Abraham Lincoln, and [New York Yankees shortstop] Derek Jeter. I like Abraham Lincoln’s beard.

He’s a role model. (The bearded Orndorff said this with a smile.) I’d like to meet Jackie Robinson just to talk to him about how hard it was to break through and be the first black athlete [to break baseball’s color barrier]. And then with Derek Jeter, he’s one of my top-three favorite athletes.

Favorite place to eat: Five Guys

Pregame routine/ritual: I get dressed the same way for every game. I put on my socks first, then compression shorts, then my pants, then my jersey.

Plans after high school: Hopefully I’ll go to college and play football. I kind of want to be an architect. My dad forced me to be in construction, so I’m used to that type of work.

— Compiled by Robert Niedzwiecki - (Photo by Ginger Perry)