Inglemoor's Victor Cheng is a small wonder

KENMORE — Fans in the stands can't believe their eyes when watching Inglemoor sprinter Victor Cheng run.

Bigger and stronger opponents watch in awe. Someone so small shouldn't be able to produce such big results.

The 5-foot-8, 145-pound Cheng's surprisingly short strides take him to the front and he usually stays there.

He's a surprise no more.

Cheng, a senior, built a reputation as one of the state's fastest sprinters by taking third at the Class 4A state meet in the 100 meters and fourth in the 200 last season. He overcame a sore hamstring to do so.

Cheng's work ethic carries him on and off the track. He is a quiet young man who plays the viola in the school orchestra, owns a 3.93 grade-point average and burns to win on the track.

He says that work ethic and high standards come from his parents.

"I know the expectations and I live up to them or surpass them," he said. "That's part of why I work so hard in track. I've got to be better. That's my mind-set from how they brought me up."

Unbelievable results come from such devotion.

"For now, I don't see a true limit," Cheng said. "I want to go and see how far I can go in the sport."

The Vikings went to the top last spring. They are strong favorites to repeat as Class 4A boys team champions with Cheng, thrower Nate Rolfe and distance runners David Kinsella and Jon Lewis returning.

Cheng is Inglemoor's lightweight, scoring knockouts in a heavyweight world.

"He's a competitor," Inglemoor coach Mike Mills said of his sprinter. "He enjoys the challenge of getting to the next level. He knows it isn't just given to you. He understands that it's a process."

Cheng's speed surprises observers the first time they see him.

"Guys like Victor are almost like Thoroughbred horses, because there's that fine line between needing to work out and resting," Mills said. "He needs special massage treatment sometimes. With a kid so lean, and with just about 5 or 6 percent body fat, we need to make sure to watch his diet.

"We make sure he keeps fluids going down."

Fluids flowing. Competition falling. A little man takes down Goliaths.

Cheng's top times so far this spring are 10.7 seconds in the 100 (tied for second among all classifications in the state through last week) and 21.9 in the 200 (good for the state lead).

Cheng also is trying the 400 for the first time and he'll run a leg on both the relays.

Last winter, Cheng clocked 6.88 in the 60-meter dash for the second-fastest time by a Washington high-schooler. Said Mills: "Last year, people were more mesmerized when they saw him run. He's proof that in sprinting they all come in different sizes and packages."

Cheng wants to run track in college and thinks his future either holds Washington or Yale.

Living with his mom, Flora, in Woodinville, Cheng sees his father infrequently during the school year. His father, Alfred, works various jobs as an aerospace engineer nationwide and returns home briefly after each job.

Cheng's father currently resides and works in Los Angeles and will watch Victor compete against some of the nation's best Friday and Saturday in the Arcadia (Calif.) Invitational.

The Cheng family moved to Kirkland from Long Island, N.Y., when Victor was 10. The next year his family bought its current house in Woodinville.

Sprinting supplies the shy, reserved kid with heavy doses of confidence.

"When I first got serious as a sophomore, I didn't think too much of myself," Cheng said. "I didn't really see myself doing well on the level I am now. Track has opened me up as a person."

His success came with a narrowed focus. Cheng quit playing soccer competitively after his sophomore season after 11 years in the sport so he could focus on track.

"I was just trying to become the fastest guy in my school," he said. "I wasn't thinking about district and state. It's kind of crazy now where I'm at."