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Hinsdale Central’s Ticho training for perfect storm in 400
Hillside Friday 03.15.13. Hinsdale Central's Alex Conte (center) competes against Oak Park-River Forest's Travon Watson (left) and Lyons' Lino Mogorovic (right) during a heat of a 55 meter low hurdles race during a boys track meet on Friday, March 15, 2013, at Proviso West High School in Hillside. | Buzz Orr~Sun-Times Media
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Updated: April 22, 2013 10:52AM
HILLSIDE — Hinsdale Central senior Gideon Ticho has yet to run a perfect race in the 400-meter dash.
However, Ticho pulled off perfection in another area last year when he took the ACT and recorded the highest possible score, a 36.
“I’ve always been a good test-taker and it felt really good to do that,” Ticho said. “Hopefully it pays off as far as getting accepted into some pretty good colleges.”
Ticho has quite the balancing act when it comes to juggling school, track and competing in scholastic bowl. The Red Devils scholastic bowl team just concluded its season at the Maine South Sectional on March 9.
“(Scholastic bowl) was something that I just started this year and it was fun,” Ticho said. “It’s basically team trivia. It was a good season and I felt it expanded my horizons.”
Ticho, whose favorite subjects are science and social studies, has tried to apply his smarts to track. The 400 isn’t just about speed, like the 100 and 200.
He sprinted to a season-best of 52.96 seconds for fourth place Friday at the West Suburban Silver indoor track meet at Proviso West.
“There’s a big amount of planning that goes into running a 400,” he said. “You can run it a couple different ways. I like to get out fast and coast a little bit and then try and catch them at the end. You have to plan when to kick and it’s challenging to know when exactly to make a move.”
Ticho’s best outdoor time last year in the 400 was 52.5, but he was running in the high 54’s to low 55’s during this indoor season. To be able to clock a sub-53 at indoor conference shows clear progression.
The state qualifying time of 49.94 is still a ways off, but no one should doubt Ticho’s ability to put together that perfect race.
“He’s made some huge gains since last year and each year he just keeps getting better and better,” said Hinsdale Central coach Jim Kupres. “The reason is because he just works hard. He does a lot of stuff in the offseason. He’s just dedicated and it’s paying off for him.”
