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Wehunts get through it together

Tribune photo by BILL WARD

Sickles senior Derek Wehunt, right, and his twin bother, Dan Wehunt, take the lead in the 1,600-meter run at last month's Western Conference American Division qualifier.

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By BILL WARD | TBO.com

Published: April 11, 2009

Updated: 04/11/2009 11:47 pm

Dan and Derek Wehunt are about as close as twin brothers can be. They attend school together at Sickles High, work part-time at the same job in a mall and run together on the Gryphons' track and cross country teams. They even share a car.

But there was that one day in sixth grade when Derek decided it was time to give himself a little space by living in a different room of their house. So while mom Diane was at work one day, Derek took his bed and all his belongings and moved into the spare bedroom.

"We were kind of sick of rooming together," Derek said. "When she got home, I just said, 'Mom, this is my room now.'"

That was nearly seven years ago, and the Wehunts have faced a lot of changes and challenges since then. The most trying of them was when father Gary was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. After a two-year struggle, he died at the age of 49.

Derek and Dan were 11, and their sister Emily was 9. They held the memorial service on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, where the family had vacationed.

A year later, the Wehunts faced another monumental test when they learned Diane had cancer in both breasts. Doctors told her it was one of the most aggressive forms of breast cancer and that she would need a double mastectomy. She also needed eight rounds and nearly a half-year of chemotherapy, a month of radiation treatment and a full year of taking a powerful anti-cancer drug called Herceptin.

Before her husband died, Diane didn't have a will. Now she found herself agonizing about what would happen to her children if she didn't survive.

"I think the toughest part was not having any of my family here during that time," Diane said. "My family was in Ohio, and Gary was an only child, with his father living in Clermont."

With the help of a close circle of friends in Tampa, as well as her team of doctors and fellow cancer patients, Diane triumphed. She has been cancer-free for more than four years, and she is about to see her two sons graduate from Sickles.

In the past few years, she has seen them grow from carefree youths to thoughtful teens.

They also happen to be two of the state's top distance runners this track season, with Dan and Derek ranking among the nation's best in the 800-meter run and Derek climbing into the national leaders in the 1,600 and 3,200.

All the while, Diane says Dan and Derek have not only supported her, but they have been pillars of strength for one another.

"Looking back at it all, they had to grow up awfully fast and depend upon each other," Diane said. "I'm not sure if they fully realize how close they really are or how many of their friends look at them and say, 'You guys are so lucky to have each other. I wish I had that.'"

At some level, the Wehunt brothers say they know what they have. When none of their Sickles teammates are around, they say they can go for a run together. After a tough race or workout, they often sit at home and talk about what went right or wrong. And when they watched their father and mother suffering with cancer, they knew they had each other and their little sister to help them get through it.

"We really weren't old enough to know how seriously sick they were, but it was really rough when our dad died, and I'm glad I had a brother and a sister," Dan said. "When our mom got sick, we didn't give much thought of what would happen. We just knew she would make it."

"She's a strong woman," Derek said. "I always assumed she would beat it."

And despite the injuries, flu bugs and just plain bad luck they have occasionally experienced during their four-year running careers at Sickles, the Wehunts were certain they could reach the heights they have climbed now.

Derek, who has signed with the University of Florida, recently ran a then nation-leading time in the 1,600 of 4 minutes, 11.14 seconds. That mark is now among the top 10 in the U.S. this season, as is his 800 time of 1:52.9. His 3,200 clocking of 9:06.78 stands No. 18 nationally and is third-best in the history of Hillsborough County.

Dan, an 800 specialist who has yet to make a college commitment, has run 1:53.8 for the event to rank No. 5 in Florida and is in the top 20 nationally.

Because full college scholarships for distance runners are a rarity (it is often just books, or partial tuition if you're very good), the Wehunts still have to figure out how they're going to pay for everything this fall on a single parent's income. Diane says she invested most of her husband's life insurance in the stock market and, like other people, has watched that investment shrink dramatically.

But at least her sons are healthy and finally running up to the potential so many of their coaches had seen.

"It's been great just going out there and running with good competition and feeling so good," Derek said. "It doesn't feel like there's much pressure. It's just me and Dan running and having fun with it."

Reporter Bill Ward can be reached at (813) 259-7456.

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