Wissahickon Boys Bring Home Suburban One League American Conference Boys Track and Field Championships

If this was a "dress rehearsal" for districts, as Wissahickon boys track and field coach Don Betterly suggested, the Trojans should be a dangerous team this weekend at Coatesville High School.

To prepare, Wissahickon dominated the field at the Suburban One League American Conference Boys Track and Field Championships, which concluded Saturday at Plymouth Whitemarsh.

The Trojans defended their title with 231.33 team points for an easy league championship, nearly besting the scores of runner-up Cheltenham (141) and third-place Upper Dublin (112.33) combined.

"They've been consistent all season, and we expected to do well," Betterly said. "We want to be prepared for districts, so this was business as usual."

Max Hairston secured the most hardware for Wissahickon, including setting a personal record of 14.61 in the 110-meter hurdles -- the fifth-best in Wissahickon school history. His time of 39.12 secured the 300-meter hurdles, and he shared a gold medal with his 4x400-meter relay teammates Hong Cho, Dave Stillato and Cornell Dixon, with a time of 3:24.03.

Cho took the 800-meter run with a time of 1:52.91. Though he bested the 2003 meet record of 1:53.32, set by Springfield-Montco’s Mark Korich, Cho is seeking a new personal record.

Dillon Farrell defended his gold medal when he blew away the field with a 9:44.88 time in the 3,200-meter run.

Se Jin Jeong took the pole vault with a 14 foot leap, ahead of teammates Aaron Rodriguez (2nd), August Kim (4th) and David Lee (5th).

 In addition to the 4x400 relay, the Trojans also captured the 4x800-meter relay.

The performances bode well for Thursday and Friday, as most of the returning athletes have times that already improve on last year's numbers. They'll have to do well, if they want to advance to states, held May 27 and 28 at Shippensburg University. 

"The District 1 Championships is probably the most competitive meet of the year and that includes the state meet," Betterly said. "There will be guys left home from this meet who would have medaled at states. We'll need all guns blazing to make states." 

Also scoring points for the Trojans:

Jeremy Cho (110 hurdles).

Anthony Delegall (100, 200).

Cornell Dixon (200).

Wesley Hayward (100 hurdles, long jump, 300 hurdles).

Nkosi Jones (triple jump, high jump).

August Kim (pole vault).

Matt Knittle (high jump).

Tanoh Kpassagnon (discus, shot put, triple jump, javelin).

David Lee (pole vault).

Jin Ho Park (long jump, triple jump).

Jin Young Park (300 hurdles, 100 hurdles).

Ben Ravetz (1600, 800).

Sam Brooks (800, 1600).