Whoosh! Junior Christopher Hwang throws a discus, a weighted metal-rimmed disc, into the air as far as he physically can to prepare himself for upcoming meets and to maintain his personal and CHS’s season best throw of 164 feet and 8 inches.
Hwang started his journey in shot put and discus during the spring of his freshman year. A recommendation from his football coach was what ignited the spark. It wasn’t just the idea of playing the sport and learning the skills that drew him in, though. There were other features that he found interesting.
“The self-improvement and the technical aspect of it was what stood out to me,” Hwang said. “It’s really much more in-depth than a lot of people think.”
When Hwang started shot put, normal training days included technique work, drills and more self-effort, which was different from football as it is a more team-focused sport. However, Hwang still managed to break multiple school records, like an outdoor shot put record of 58 feet and 7 inches.
“I’ve participated in competitions outside of school, for the 2025 New Balance Nationals Outdoor in discus and the 2026 in shot put, which was indoors,” Hwang said. “The training I went through helped me grow from 24th place in 2025 to 12th place in 2026.”
Alongside training individually, Hwang receives support and encouragement from his teammates as well. Junior Enqi Ha, a track sprinter and teammate, supports him during his events, clapping for Hwang to get his rhythm up which is the accelerating tempo through the throwing motion.
“Every time I go to the track, he’s always on the track as well,” Ha said. “He puts in so much effort, being the only person who goes to practice everyday, while 90% of the others skip their practices.”
Hwang and Ha attend meets together with the whole track team. Ha has witnessed some of Hwang’s achievements during the meets or just at practice, for example, he got a throw of 171 feet and 11 inches in discus, breaking the state record.
“He’s done so many great things, like winning states in discus and breaking the state record as just a sophomore,” Ha said. “He also qualified for nationals in both shot put and discus during his freshman year.”
Track coach James Johnson has been a mentor and supporter through Hwang’s shot put journey. Though Johnson is a running coach, he acts as a manager for everyone on the team no matter the athletes’ specific area of competition.
“Chris is a really self-determined athlete,” Johnson said. “He has big goals that he knows what he needs to do to get there, and as a coach my role is to be more of an assistant for him and someone to check or implement him on.”
However, Hwang’s shot put journey has not been a linear one. Right around the time of districts for his shot put meet, Hwang experienced back issues, which became an overall concern for the team’s performance. Yet the team managed to finish runner-up at regionals and Hwang was able to push through, winning the regionals with only two throws.
“I think whenever you have a challenge, it’s an opportunity to grow,” Johnson said. “Chris learned a lesson of patience and if he gave in to some of those challenges, I don’t think Chris would have found himself on those stages like that.”
Hwang qualified to compete in discus against both high school and college athletes at the Penn Relays on April 24 held at the University of Pennsylvania, the world’s oldest and most widely recognized meet according to visitphilly.com.
