Roman Rychkov is known for finishing strong in races and it appears his high school track & field career is taking on the same tone.
“He has potential to go really fast,” coach Anthony Dentino said. “We’re looking at him to close out his career on the right note. He’s got a lot of ability and he’s really ready. He’s worked hard and is very deserving of a big accomplishment his senior year.”
So far that seems to be working out.
During the winter season, Rychkov won the 400 meters in 50.92 at the Mercer County Indoor Championships, took third in the 400 and fourth in the 800 in the tough Central Jersey Group II sectionals while also running on the third-place 4×400 relay team. He did not run the 800 in the NJSIAA Group II meet Feb. 17, but advanced to the Feb. 25 Meet of Champions as an individual for the first time with a sixth-place finish in the 400. His previous trips to the MOC were twice with the 4×400.
“It’s always been a goal of mine to go as an individual to Meet of Champs,” Rychkov said. “At the start of my high school career I just noticed everyone was like ‘Oh Meet of Champions is insane, it’s really crazy to get into.’ So getting there finally on my own was something really special for me because I’d been working all this time for that. Group II is a really tough group, especially for the 400, so it meant a lot.”
The success is part of a steady progression for Rychkov, who is looking to finish on a high note in the spring season and hopefully run college track.
Growing up as a soccer player, Rychkov started track at Pond Road in seventh grade. His participation was sparked by bawdy middle school talk.
“A lot of my friends there were just like ‘Let’s just see who’s faster,’” Rychkov recalled. “Coming in, especially in seventh and eighth grade, I was not the fastest. I wanted to get better and wanted prove at that point that I’m the best. It was just like working toward something greater. I wanted to see what I could do and how I could improve.”
His hard work paid off as Rychkov was named the team’s Most Valuable Performer in eighth grade, when he ran a variety of events.
Rychkov continued to play soccer in ninth grade but his progress in track was starting to overshadow what he did on the pitch. After his freshman year, he opted for cross country as his fall sport and has never looked back.
“My whole thing in soccer was just getting around everyone with my speed,” Rychkov said. “Toward eighth and ninth grade, I became a lot more aggressive during games. My dad was worried I would injure myself and could ruin my track season. He jokingly said, ‘You should just do track, there’s no injury there, there’s no contact.’ But I was like, ‘That’s a good point.’”
Although he had never been a distance runner, Rychkov made the cross country varsity as a sophomore and helped the Ravens to the Mercer County championship. His participation in that sport began to alter his track career.
His first few years in high school, Rychkov ran the 100, 200 and 400. But once he became a harrier, the short sprints were replaced by the 800, at least for the major meets. He will still run the 100 and 200 in dual meets this spring to work on his speed for the 400 and 800 in counties and states.
“Once I started training in cross country, I excelled really quickly,” he said. “The 400 was always my personal preference. I loved the event and I loved running one lap and getting it done. In the 800 I definitely worked with the coaches. I started the 800 my junior year. We lost a lot of our distance guys, so coach asked me to step up in the winter and spring, especially after adding the cross country.”
There were, of course, adjustments that needed to be made.
“My first few races were very inexperienced,” Rychkov said. “I was really bad at pacing. The reason why I love the four, you don’t really need to pace, you just go out and gun it. The eight you gotta hold some back, you gotta kick at the right time. It was tough to find my way and I’m actually still finding my way. I would definitely say I’m not an expert at the eight, but the four I would say I’m pretty good at.”
Rychkov laughed when reminded that he competes in the two races that most runners could do without. The 400 is the longest sprint and the 800 requires distance, speed and strategy. He feels that all plays into his wheelhouse.
“I would say I’m more of a speed endurance kind of guy,” he said. “I do have a lot of speed, especially in the four, but I also have good speed endurance. That’s what me and my coach worked on this winter That’s what’s helped me stay in the race longer, especially in the four. We haven’t worked on the speed factor as much, we’ll start focusing on that in spring. With the speed factor built upon the speed endurance I hope I can really drop my times in the outdoor events.”
Dentino can’t wait to see what Rychkov does this spring, as he feels a 3½-year build-up is going to culminate in a tremendous final high school season. He also has a runner versatile enough to give him some flexibility in dual meets.
“He actually has enough speed where he’d be a pretty successful sprinter,” the coach said. “Based on the fact he’s run cross country and worked really hard to increase his volume of runs, he’s become not only a kid that runs fast, but now we’re working on getting him strong. You combine those two things in the 400 and 800 and they’re the perfect races for him.
“He can also step up and run distance and can step down for us and run something shorter than a 400. He’s a team first kind of kid. Wherever we need to put him, he goes. He’s the kind of guy that holds the team together. He’s really a big piece for us.”
When he’s not chasing down opposing runners, Rychkov finds success as an outstanding chess player. He began playing at age 4½ and immediately excelled. He won numerous state titles in elementary and middle school, and finished third as a freshman in the National K-12 Tournament in Orlando.
He no longer plays in tournaments but remains competitive by playing on line. And while chess requires a lot of mental preparation, Roman does not incorporate that into his game day race planning. In fact, he just tries to empty his head.
“Right before a race when I’m in line, unlike all my other teammates, I like to stay completely relaxed, emotionless,” he said. “I’m just ready to focus on the race…I always just zone out and do my own thing.”
It’s a thing that just keeps getting better as the years go on.
Robbinsville High’s Roman Rychkov wins the 400-meter run at the Mercer County Indoor Championships Jan. 28, 2018 at Lavino Fieldhouse in Lawrence.,
