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Wednesday, April 26, 2000
Chun will make
run at ILH title
The Punahou senior hopes
By Pat Bigold
to win his third 800-meter
championship
Star-BulletinTHE way Matt Chun closed out the state 800-meter championship race last year made his coaches wince.
Chun, now a Punahou senior bound for Princeton, blew away from the field right from the gun and never let up on the throttle.
"He was a monster,'' said Buffanblu head coach Dacre Bowen, whose boys' team has won the last four state titles.
"They had to run trials twice because of a technical malfunction and then he went out and ran one of the best times in the last 20 years.''
Chun's 1:55.8 in the state meet victory wasn't a meet record, but it stands as his career best . And it showed what Chun could do in a big race.
"There are lots of things you look at in an athlete," said Bowen.
"The mental toughness to do on race day what you couldn't dream of doing in practice - well, Matt has that. Matt's a racer, and that's what's exciting about working with him.''
Chun began to drive a wedge between himself and the rest of the 800-meter runners in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu last year and that wedge sinks deeper all the time.
But it was a combination of experience, strength and technique, rather than exceptional speed, that brought about this condition.
Seeking a third straight ILH title this year, Chun's mastery of the 800 is unquestioned in the league. But he said he isn't going to get too comfortable in his specialty.
Bowen believes Chun's collegiate destiny will be in the 1,500.
"He has a very comfortable speed," said Bowen.
"But he is not a power runner by any stretch. And the 800 at the Division I level is becoming more and more a power runner's race.''
Chun agrees.
"I don't think I have the size," said the 5-foot-9, 145-pounder. "They're pretty big up there."
Although Chun has not dominated the 1,500 like he has the 800, he's been among the better battlers at the longer distance.
He finished third in both the ILH and the state last year.
Chun said he's glad he has Mililani's Robby Philipp to chase in the 1,500. Philipp is the state champion and owns a personal best that's about four seconds better than Chun's.
But on March 18 at Iolani, Chun showed the 1,500 is becoming a better fit for him when he upset Philipp by more than a full second (4:16.12 to 4:17.63) in their only meeting this year.
Philipp fulfills Chun's need for an arch-rival rival on the track .
"A little fear factor is good," said Chun.
He ran well in the ILH as a sophomore. But in the 1998 state championship meet, Chun gave Bowen his first jolt by nearly winning the final.
"He had always run well but that was jumping up a serious notch," said Bowen. "He was new and running on natural talent and basically what strength he could generate. The kid from Seabury who beat him was exceptionally strong and had been training for a long time. I think that's when Matt saw what was possible for him."
Now, Chun said he "visualizes" his races ahead of time and then sets out to make his vision materialize.
Off the track, Chun, who is a team captain, has also excelled in soccer and cross country. He finished fourth behind Philipp's victory last November.
But he said he prefers track because it's a "less painful'' experience than cross country.
Chun is a 3.7 grade-point average student who particularly enjoys math and science.
At Princeton, he said he wants to major in business, and he can't understand why anyone would even ask why.
"Hey, everybody wants to play with money and make money," he said with a laugh.
Chun will be a member of the 4x400 and 4x800 relay teams in the 55th annual Punahou Invitational Relays, which get under way tomorrow and conclude Saturday.
