RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Lewisburg's Jonathan Hess competes in the boy's 1600 meter during the PIAA District 4 AA/AAA Track and Field finals at Williamsport on Saturday, May 18, 2024.

It isn’t often that Jonathan Hess gets an opportunity to chase down an opponent, being the top-ranked distance runner in District 4 Class AAA through all three events. When he does, it’s not a prospect that rattles him.

In fact, the Lewisburg junior relishes those moments, moments that motivate him to take things to a whole another level. It’s a big reason he looks forward to states next weekend, a next-level event for runners that live for the chase.

“I’d say the thing that Johnny is best with is his mentality,” said Lewisburg boys coach Ron Hess when discussing what separates Jonathan from other runners earlier this season. “A lot of runners get over-anxious. A lot of runners, they’ve done it so long that they can’t feel that unless they’re in a big race, whereas he’s ferocious.”

That mentality came into play on Day 1 of the District 4 championships. With Lewisburg’s 3,200 relay team facing a rough deficit heading into the final leg on Thursday, the junior manned the baton and made magic happen.

His personal best pace — then a 1:58.91 — likely would’ve had the Green Dragons on the outskirts of qualifying for states, but Hess went beyond that. Through the final lap, he’d surpass three state-qualifying squads in Williamsport, Selinsgrove and Shamokin, helping earn his team its first title of the event.

Ultimately, his split was a 1:51.65. If he had run that individually, he would’ve cleared the program record (1:52.35) by seven tenths of a second.

It had been a similar story in last year’s 3,200 relay at districts, where Hess surpassed his best split – then a 2:01 – by six seconds. His run got the Green Dragons back within striking distance of Shikellamy before his brother, Thomas, finished the job with a stellar plit of 1:51.

“I never want to be in a position where we’re not in first, but I love the chase.” Hess emphasized when discussing what made that 800 different. “The chase just gives me such a powerful feeling and I’m able to use it to put together an insane time.”

He’d face a separate challenge with similar grace on Saturday, claiming three district titles in the 800, 1600 and 3200 – a first within the Hess lineage.

Posting strong times of 9:29.86 and 4:22.16 in the 3,200 and 1,600 was tiring but did little to alter his 800, where he set a new personal best of 1:57.52 to secure his third gold medal, fourth including he garnered alongside Eli Kalberer, Justin Nolt and Kieran Murray on Thursday. It wasn’t quite the program record pace he’d previously ran, but he was happy to finish strong considering how long of a day it had been.

“I was a little worried about the 800 because I was feeling pretty tight after the mile. But as soon as I stepped on that track, I was ready to go again,” said Hess. “This year, being able to come here and have the opportunity in every single event was just amazing and I was able to put it all together.”

He now turns his focus to preparing for states this weekend, opting to compete in the 1,600 and 3,200. As it stands, he’s ranked No. 17 in the state in both events, a factor which likely motivates him more than it fazes him.

“It doesn’t matter how good or big the field is, he doesn’t fear it,” Coach Hess continued when discussing his mentality earlier in the season. “This year, he’s been really on point about (training too). He’s training hard, he’s got the right attitude and he races courageously.”

“I’m going to do the mile all out and then wake up the next day for the 32 and go all out again,” said Hess on his events. “Being able to run with other people that can sort of drag me along and run with me helps. That definitely helped in the 800 today.”

He’ll see his first action of the event at 9 a.m. on Friday for the 1,600 before taking on the 3,200 the following morning.