LAKEVILLE - Perspective. For a long time, 2025 LaVille High School graduate Collin Czarnecki was around sports, playing sports, and enjoying sports.  And over the last four years Czarnecki was a vitol player on each of the teams he played while attending school in small, rural Lakeville, IN. Being a part of big plays, scoring points, along with earning team and individual honors were nice, but there's more. Special moments that bring a smile to Collin's face or sharing in the success with his teammates. "Reflecting back on these memories brings a smile to my face as I can just remember the amount of pure joy I had in those moments," said Czarnecki, who was recently named the 2025 Dale E. Cox Male Athlete of the Year.  "The memories were all great times that I got to enjoy alongside my teammates." Czarnecki earned 12 varsity letters, participating in football, basketball, and baseball, earning four letters in each during his career. "It was a big honor to hear that I was the male athlete of the year," said Collin, who became just the ninth student-athlete to earn 12 varsity letters at LaVille in the last 10 years.  "There is definitely a good amount of solid athletes in my grade.  It was good to be honored for the success I have had in 3 sports." During our chat, we had the chance to ask Collin for some most memorable memories in each sport. Throughout his career in the Hoosier North Athletic Conference and the Indiana Northern State Conference, he has earned seven first-team honors and four honorable mention recognitions.  Collin has also received several other awards - both team and individual. According to Czarnecki, below are some highlights over the years: *IN FOOTBALL -Winning sectionals my freshman and junior year -Having an undefeated regular season my sophomore year -Going undefeated in my career against Bremen and John Glenn *IN BASKETBALL -Winning Everwise Bi-County Basketball Tournament and being named MVP of the tournament both my sophomore and senior year -Upsetting South Bend Washington my senior year -Hitting 2 game winners in my career  -Reaching 1k points my junior season -Becoming the All-Time leading scorer my senior year *IN BASEBALL -Hitting my first high school home-run in my freshman year -Getting to play at the South Bend Cubs (Fourwinds Field) -Playing against my cousin for 3 years -Throwing a perfect game until my coach took me out the last inning "I have always been involved in sports," Czarnecki said when asked about being involved in sports growing up.  "I grew up watching my older brother and both of my parents compete in sports.  I started playing as soon as I could.  Sports have been a way of life for me."  During his time at LaVille Jr-Sr High School, Collin also participated in National Honor Society, Distributive Education Clubs of America (DECA), Future Farmers of America, Fellowship of Christian Students, and Art Club. This winter, Collin also became the first-ever boys basketball player to participate in the Hoosier Basketball Magazines Top 60 workout. On the court or the field of play, putting on the LaVille uniform has always been special for Collin. "Putting on the LaVille uniform for the last four years has meant so much to me and has given me unforgettable memories," said Czarnecki, who wore #2 in football, #22 in basketball, and #4 in baseball.  "It is always great to play for something more than just yourself and my great teammates and the local community allowed that to happen." After picking up his diploma along with other Class of 2025 classmates, Czarnecki is headed for Cornerstone University in Grand Rapids, Michigan.  He plans to play basketball and major in Biology/Pre-Med. We also had the opportunity to ask the Class of 2025 Valedictorian what final words of advice he would have for younger kids regarding academics and athletics. "My advice to younger kids is to work hard all year long and enjoy competing," said Czarnecki. "Work to always be better because winning is a lot more enjoyable than losing. Winning is earned." There was also one final reflection from Collin as we closed our time together, "I’m thankful for the entire Lancer community and I will definitely miss playing for LaVille!" Congratulations, Collin!