Wissahickon's Hong Cho Runs His Best 800-Meter at Districts

When Hong Cho finished ahead of the District 1 field, he knew he had just run his best 800-meter race.

Then he heard the announcement. Cho's 1:50.92 was the fastest time in Pennsylvania this season and 5th quickest in the country. 

"I was surprised when I heard the time on the loudspeaker," he said. "I was expecting a PR [personal record] since I knew there were fast guys in the field and I knew I beat them. I was thinking maybe a 1:52, but not a 1:50.92."

Though Wissahickon finished 10th among competing schools with 25 points -- more than 20 points behind overall winner Central Bucks West -- the Trojans will send several athletes to Shippensburg University this weekend to compete in the state championship.

Cho, who broke former Central Bucks South runner Tom Mallon's 2010 time of 1:52.71, will vie for Mallon's state record.

"It would be nice to get that too," he said, with a laugh. "That's the goal."

Cho also combined with Max Hairston, Dillon Farrell and Anthony Delegall to take gold in the 4x400 relay, with a time of 43.27. Those four will also run the 4x400 relay. Individually, Wissahickson will send Hairston to compete in the 110- and 300-meter hurdles, Ben Ravetz in the 1600-meter and Dillon Farrell in the 3200-meter.

Before Cho heads to Cornell University to study "something in the sciences", he continues to turn running into a science with consistently improved times and approaches to his races.

Less than a week after destroying the field at last week's SOL American Conference championships, Cho had to overcome a camera malfunction at the start of Friday's district championship. At the time of the restart, he had executed his plan of getting out ahead of the field and had established a sizable lead.

The second time around, Cho took a more strategic approach. He let his opponents get out fast, then moved up gradually before making a final move with 250 meters to go, edging out CB West's Connor Manley by half a second.

"It affected me a little bit, but I just had to refocus," Cho said. "I wanted to lead from the start, but with the camera malfunction, it didn't work out that way. I was still comfortable with where I was, on the outside after the false start."

Though false starts are a part of every track event, it can fluster runners. Not Cho.

"He won this race because he ran smart," Wissahickon head track coach Don Betterly said. "He likes the challenge and doesn't get nervous. He's very analytical and executes a game plan. It's almost like he's going to play a video game."

Cho laughed at the notion that he never gets anxious, recalling a time when he was nervous before nearly every race. But that was during his freshman and sophomore years, and there are no traces of that guy anymore.

"It's my senior year, and I'm one of the top guys going in, so I feel that if I just execute my plan, it will work out," Cho said. "As I started getting better, I started gaining confidence in myself, and the results were there."