Wissahickon Boys Finish 10th in Championship of American Race at Penn Relays

On the final day of the 2011 Penn Relays, the Wissahickon boys' quartet of Dillon Farrell, Sam Brooks, Ben Ravetz and Hong Cho were still running.

They couldn't ask for much more than that.

The Trojans boys qualified for the 4x800 Championship of America relay race, then finished 10th, or better than 61 other schools across the United States and abroad.

"Our goal was to get to the Championship of America," Wissahickon head coach Don Betterly said. "We knew we probably weren't going to do any damage once we got in there, but we were trying to run a better time than we did in the preliminary round."

They did that, too, besting their 7:52.29 qualifying time by nearly three seconds. The 7:49.50 time in the COA race also ranked  sixth-fastest in Wissahickon school history.

Cornell-bound senior Hong Cho was the highlight of the group, running a season-best anchor leg of 1:52.57.

"He's been brilliant for us," Betterly said.

Held at the University of Pennsylvania's Franklin Field in Philadelphia since 1895, the hallowed competition attracts more than 15,000 participants in more than 300 events. More than 100,000 people typically attend the three days worth of races, with more than half coming on Saturday for the championship competitions and events that match up the world's best athletes.

The Wissahickon boys also ran in the 4x400 relay, finishing second to Cheltenham in the American Conference race with a 3:21.91. That qualified them for the Philly Area race where they finished third (3:22.43) to Penn Wood and Cheltenham. In the first race, Hong Cho fired a personal record 48.54 in the anchor slot; in the second, Max Hairston ran anchor and beat his "PR" by nearly two seconds, at 48.91.

The 4x100 team of Anthony Delegall, Hairston, Park and Cornell Dixon hit 43.44, 29th of 266 competing schools, and their personal best. 

"We met a lot of our goals, which bodes well for the next few weeks."

While they won't be running in front of 48,531 screaming fans, the Trojans will race for local pride Thursday night at the 36h Annual Trojan Track Classic, which attracts the top individuals and teams from the area.

Last year, Cho raced to a first-place time of 1 minute, 54.42 seconds in the 800-meter dash, to set a Wissahickon record at the event -- breaking Nick Crits' mark of 1:54.47 from 2007. Cho's time is also fifth best all-time at the Trojan Classic.

The Trojans also took home the 4x100 relay, Wes Hayward won in the 110 hurdles, Hairston in the 300 hurdles, Myron Ross in the 100-meter dash, and Farrell in the 3,200-meter run at the Classic.

After that, it's the SOL American League Champions at Plymouth Whitemarsh High School, then districts and states.

With a deep group of sprinters, distance runners, hurdlers and pole vaulting twins Sejin and SeHee Jeong, Wissahickon is enters as the favorite to take the trophy.

"We haven't scored under 100 points against anyone yet," Betterly said. "We can be one of those teams at Districts where, after you add up all the points, it's like 'Where did they come from?"

Results for High School Boys' 4x800 Championship of America.

1. Long Beach Poly (Long Beach, CA), 7:31.69 -- Chris Hall, Aaron Harris, Christian Penn, Myles Andrews.

2. Abington (Abington, PA), 7:37.79 -- Macey Watson, William Taylor, Tevin Smith, Kyle Moran.

3. Central Bucks West (Doylestown, PA), 7:38.97 -- Mike May, Matt McGarvey, Matt Bee, Connor Manley.

4. Georgetown Prep (North Bethesda, MD), 7:45.40 -- Ron Busby, Joey Chapin, Thomas McIntyre, Russell Hornsby.

5. Holmwood Tech (Christiana, JAM), 7:46.70 -- Sanj Powell, Andre Hosey, Kevin White, Danielle Richards.

6. Richard Montgomery (Rockville, MD), 7:47.49 -- David Hamilton, Jacob Cantor, Zack Angel, Sam Martin.

7. Kingston College (East Kingston, JAM), 7:49.02 -- Rogeek Rochester, Yannick Edwards, Giovanni West, Andre Hare.

8. La Salle College (Wyndmoor, PA), 7:49.21 -- Andrew Stone, Chris Muggler, Tom Coyle, Brendan Stone.

9. St. John the Baptist (West Islip, NY), 7:49.35 -- Sean Ferguson, Hunter Burrell, Seitu Solomon, Brandon Camenzuli.

10. Wissahickon (Ambler, PA), 7:49.50 -- Dillon Farrell (1:59.16), Sam Brooks (1:59.49), Ben Ravetz (1:58.28), Hong Cho (1:52.57).

11. St. Jago (St. Catherine, JAM), 7:51.30 -- Webster Chung, Sanjer Pantry, Damion Jones, Otaine Bartley. 

12. William Dickinson (Jersey City, NJ), 8:06.83 -- Aaron Rubet, Luis Reyes, Edwin Young, Jose Veras.