Zach Chandy

Steve Virgen

When Zach Chandy thinks back on the Orange County championships of

2004 he won’t necessarily remember the meet for the fast times he

posted or the top-five finishes he earned in the 200 and 400 meters.

Competing in the Orange County championships as a sophomore will

be memorable for Chandy because that was when he gained confidence

and truly realized he belonged among the elite locally. He also

garnered more trust in his right leg, which he broke last year and

did not compete in track and field.

However, Chandy has overcome the pain and frustration of having to

sit out. As soon as he had the OK to train after recuperating from

his broken leg, he immersed himself into a rigorous workout schedule

during the summer. He competed in cross country and helped lead Sage

Hill to its first league team title in the school’s history.

The Lightning won the Academy League championship Nov. 3 and made

their first appearance in the CIF Southern Section preliminaries.

Then as soon as the season ended he was back at work, preparing for

track.

The results were on display Saturday at Trabuco Hills High. The

Sage Hill sophomore raised eyebrows and made people take notice of

the speedster coming out of a small school in Newport Coast.

Chandy came in third place in the 200, finishing in 22.34 seconds.

He also took fifth in the 200 (49.25). He was the fastest sophomore

at the meet.

“I was very excited,” Chandy said of his performance. “I wanted to

show myself that I could stay with some of the big-school runners and

I did. I wasn’t that far behind the leaders. I think I can improve on

that, but I was very happy overall. It gave me a lot more confidence

in myself.”

Chandy’s breakout effort was even more impressive considering it

was only his second big meet while he has been competing in high

school. His first big-meet experience came April 10 when he competed

in the open 400 for the Arcadia invitational.

He finished third in the event, finishing in a personal-best

49.07. He was also fifth in the 200 with a time of 22.45. His

personal record in the 200 is 22.1, hand-time as opposed to the

electronic record he completed Saturday.

“The more big meets he competes in the better and better he will

get,” said Nate Miller, the Lightning’s track and field coach who was

also the head man for the cross country team. “Zach has a lot of

natural ability. He also works extremely hard. He started training

for track right when cross country ended. He was training close to

three hours a days, six days a week. He does a lot to take advantage

of the talent he has.”

While Miller is pleased with Chandy’s talent, it’s the sophomore’s

work ethic that gets the track and field coach excited. And because

of the time Chandy devotes to running, Miller sees great promise for

the Sage Hill sprinter.

“There’s a lot of potential there for sure,” Miller said. “He’s

still growing. He has the speed to be real successful.”

Chandy has been aware of his potential since the eighth grade when

he competed for Harbor Day School in the Junior Olympics. He ran his

400 in 49.8 in the 1,600 relay to help his team finish third in the

7th- and 8th-grade division.

Ever since, Chandy has had a passion to improve and use his talent

to the fullest.

“There is no point in doing something, if you’re not going to do

it 100%,” he said.

Chandy’s next big meet will be in the CIF Division IV

preliminaries. Before then he has set out to win three events in the

Academy League finals. The league preliminaries are Friday, and the

finals May 7 at Saddleback College. Chandy will compete in the 100,

200 and 400, and he will also anchor the 1,600 relay for the

Lightning.

In CIF, Chandy plans to focus on the 200 and 400.