Districts could be reward for Ellis-Foster, Chung
NEWTOWN SQUARE — If you happen to see Delco Christian’s Morgan Ellis-Foster or Ben Chung on the medals stand at Coatesville Area High School Thursday or Saturday, and the odds are that you will, take a minute to appreciate what it took for them to get there.
For Ellis-Foster, a senior, it was the emotional anguish of a false start on the leadoff leg of the boys Class AA 4 x 400-meter relay at the District One Track & Field Championships.
For Chung, a junior, it was the physical pain of a shattered right ankle that took two surgeries to repair, more than a year to overcome and nearly ended his track career before it began.
“Both young men have had significant setbacks and turned it into success,’ veteran Delco Christian coach George “Doc’ McFarland said.
And both young men will play key roles as the Knights attempt to win their second straight District One Class AA title when the two-day district championship meet gets under way at 1 o’clock Thursday afternoon.
Both are entered in four events each. Ellis-Foster is the top seed in both hurdles events. Chung is seeded third in the 100 and sixth in the 200. Both are on the 4 x 400- and 4 x 100-meter relay teams, which are seeded first and second, respectively.
“I can’t put into words what it would mean to win a second district title,’ Ellis-Foster said. “That team last year had a special bond. This team has a special bond, too. It’s just different.’
To some, a false start in a championship meet may seem a bit trivial, especially when you compare it to what Chung had to go through after he shattered his right ankle in January of his freshman year. For Ellis-Foster, though, it was a devastating moment.
“I walked off the track, collapsed and started crying,’ Ellis said.
Yet it proved to me a seminal moment for the young man who is looking at East Carolina and Indiana University of Pennsylvania, among others.
“I vowed that I would never false start at a big meet like that again,’ Ellis-Foster said. “And I haven’t.
Chung’s injury came while he was taking part in an adventure leadership exercise at the elementary school. He was doing a ropes course, which is a challenging personal development and team building activity, when he had an encounter with a wall.
The wall won.
Chung broke his right ankle so severely that it took two pins to put back together. The break was so bad that doctors told his parents that he would never run again. Some six months later, doctors noticed that the ankle was not healing properly and Chung underwent another surgical procedure to straighten the ankle out.
A plate and several more pins were used in that operation. As devastating as the injury was, Chung said he never lost hope or his faith.
“Every time I heard that voice that told me I would never run again, I would read the Bible and talk to my parents,’ he said. “It was the support I received from my family and my trust in God that got me through it.’
Something else helped Morgan and Chung blossom into the athletes they are today: Cross country, a sport not usually associated with hurdlers and sprinters.
McFarland convinced both young men to come out for cross country and it has done them a world of good.
“It’s really helped me in the 300 hurdles, the 400 and the 800, which I run in the summer,’ Ellis-Foster said. “I’m a lot stronger and my endurance has improved quite a bit.’
Ellis has the times to prove it. He’s ranked 11th in the state in the 300 intermediate hurdles (38.94 seconds) and 13ths in the 110 high hurdles (14.79).
While Chung came back to be part of last year’s championship team, he has really blossomed this season. He set the school record in the 100 (11.16 seconds) and ran 22.21 last weekend to finish third at the Bicentennial League championships.
“They’re two remarkable young men,’ McFarland said.
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Elsewhere in Class AA, Delco Christian’s Amir Dorsey is the top seed in the shot put, second in the discus and fourth in the javelin. Teammate Michael Malkowicz is the defending district champ in the shot put. In girls Class AA, DC’s Annette Kempf is seeded second in both the 100 and 200, while teammate Caroline Hedwell is the No. 2 seed in the high jump. The Knights are also the top seed in the 4 x 400. Sacred Heart’s Emma Seifried, the Daily Times Runner of the Year in girls cross country, is seeded second in both the 1,600- and 3,200-meter runs.
In boys Class AAA, Upper Darby’s point-scoring machine Donovan St. Louis is the No. 2 seed in the 400 and the fifth seed in the 200. Teammates Mason Weh and Akeim Thomas are third and fourth, respectively, in the 110 and 300 hurdles. The Royals also are the No. 2 seed in the 4 x 100 relay and the third seed in the 4 x 400.
Evan Emanuel of Penncrest is the No. 4 seed in the 800. Penn Wood is seeded second in the 4 x 400. However, Delco’s best chances for medals are in the field events.
Penncrest’s Evan Sing is the top seed in the javelin. Milton Jones and Shamir Weeks-Hunter are seeded 1-2 in the shot put. Haverford High’s Stephen Pierce is the No. 2 seed in the discus. Rayquan Williams of Academy Park is the No. 3 seed in the triple jump, while Strath Haven’s Colin Waitzman and Marple Newtown’s Gurjeet Rai are three and four in the pole vault.
In girls Class AAA, Academy Park’s Janese Lynch is the top seed in the shot put and discus. Valerie McLaughlin of Ridley is No. 1 in the long jump, No. 7 in the 100 and No. 8 in the 200. Freshman Cecilia Katcavage is seeded third in the javelin and Briana Artis of Penncrest is seeded fifth in the 200.
