BIIF Track Honors Island’s Best

   The Big Island Interscholastic Federation recently released its 2009 Track & Field All-Star list naming Kau’s Jacob Edwards and Hawaii Prep’s Ku’uipo Nakoa Male/Female Athlete of the Year.

   Edwards, a slender six foot junior, won individual honors during the BIIF championships in the triple jump, 110 and 300 hurdles, and placed second in the long jump and fourth in the 200 meter dash to single-handedly score a whopping 42 points.

  Nakoa won the 200 meter dash, long and triple jumps and placed second in the 100 dash to amass 38 individual points and went on to help HPA finish first in the 1600 relay and second in the 400 relay.

   At the HHSAA track and field championships held in Keaau Edwards claimed titles in both the 110 and 300 hurdles while Nakoa won the state gold medal in the long jump.

   Also coming away with double wins in the BIIF championship were HPA’s Noelani Vargas who swept the 1500 meter run and later returned to win the 800.

   Waiakea’s Ka’imi Scott won the BIIF 400 dash and then captured the 200 dash to make it a double gold day for the Warrior junior.  

   A trio of freshman became BIIF champions as Keaau’s Randi Estrada won the girls 400 dash, then went on to the state championships to claim a third place medal.  Hilo’s Shina Chung claimed a BIIF title in pole vault and HPA’s Shane Brostek won the league title for the shot.

   Surprises came when Honokaa’s Tialana Greenwell could only muster a second place finish at the BIIF 3000 meter run, but turned things around by running her best at the state championships to win a second place medal and clock an incredible time of 10 minutes 48 seconds.

   In the boy’s hurdles no one in the state could catch the “King,” Jacob Edwards, but Hilo’s TJ Dela Cruz was not only the second best in the BIIF, for both the 110 and 300, he was also second best in the state.

   And when it came to the 300 hurdles it was the BIIF’s fifth seed, Keaau’s Broc Bangloy, and third seed, Hilo’s Cameron Calistro going fourth and fifth in the state respectively to give the BIIF boy’s four out of the state’s top five medals.

   Yet, another surprise, came from BIIF runner-up Jordan Lerma from Kamehameha who went onto break the 2 minute barrier in the 800 at the state meet to collect a third place medal with Keaau’s Daniel Brooks, the BIIF fourth seed, winning fifth at state.

   HPA’s Mindy Campbell finished the BIIF championships as the runner-up in the high jump to Waiakea’s Cassie Morigaki, but at the state championships Campbell leaped her personal best 5-04 to win the state title, while Morigaki claimed fifth.

   The BIIF All-Star team is based upon the athletes placing in a particular event during the BIIF championships.  Athletes who placed first were selected to the first team, those that placed second were second team selections and those that placed in any of the scoring positions, from third to sixth, were given an honorable mention.

   Hilo High won the boys BIIF team title by more than 60 points in a runaway victory for Coach Bill McMahon.  McMahon has accumulated the most team titles of an  active BIIF track & field  coach, winning his 18^th team title (boys and girls combined) over an illustrious 19 years with the Vikings.

   McMahon was selected by league coaches as the Coach of the Year a title he has won on numerous occasions.  “I don’t count those things,” McMahon said of winning Coach of the Year.  “What I count are the former athletes that I see on the street that bother to approach me and say “thanks coach”.

   “Alex Kane, Clarence Andrade and Norb Keolanue all gave me the same advice,” McMahon said, “surround yourself with good people.”

   Kamehameha girls came away with a narrow four point victory over HPA to claim the BIIF team title and for their efforts the entire Warrior coaching staff was named Coach of the Year.

   Kamehameha Schools coach, Troy Souza, was elated with his team’s success and in the sharing of the Coach of the Year award with the rest of his staff.

   “It is an honor to have our coaching staff named Coach of the Year,” Souza said.  “This is something that couldn’t be done without the effort and success of our students.”

   For the private school Warriors it was a season filled with emotion and hard work.  “As a school we had so many school records broken this year which goes to show how hard these students worked,” Coach Souza said.

   BIIF track & field coaches voted for boy’s and girl’s coach of the year and the results were released by the leagues “Games Committee.”

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BIIF Boy’s Track & Field All-Star List

BIIF All-League Boys Track and Field 2009

Athlete of the Year: Jacob Edwards JR Ka’u

Coach of the Year: Bill McMahon, Hilo

 

Event	1st Team	2nd Team
110 Hurdles	Jacob Edwards JR Ka’u	Thomas Delacruz SR Hilo
100m	Chan Spikes JR Hilo	Charles Clay SR Hilo
1500m	Mark Turner SR Hilo	Jake Shiraki SR Honoka’a
400m	Kaimi Scott JR Waiakea	Jordan Lerma SR Kamehameha
300m Hurdles	Jacob Edwards JR Ka’u	Thomas Delacruz SR Hilo
800m	Dakota Smith SR Konawaena	Jordan Lerma SR Kamehameha
200m	Kaimi Scott JR Waiakea	Charles Clay SR Hilo
3000m	Eli Hart SR Hawaii Prep	Mark Turner SR Hilo
High Jump	Sam Unger SR Konawaena	Mtume Msizkizi-Jackson SR Kea’au
Pole Vault	Scott Hunter SR Hilo	(Tie) Caleb Friel SR Kamehameha,David King SR Hilo
Long Jump	Mtume Msizkizi-Jackson SR Kea’au	Jacob Edwards JR Ka’u
Triple Jump	Jacob Edwards JR Ka’u	Mtume Msizkizi-Jackson SR Kea’au
Discus Throw	Jordon Loeffler SR Hilo	Elliot Kastner SR Hawaii Prep
Shot Put	Shane Brostek FR Hawaii Prep	Jordon Loeffler SR Hilo

Honorable Mention

 Waiakea:  Travis Winters

Christian Liberty: Jeremy Grotenhuis, Justin Pang

Hawaii Prep: George Twigg-Smith, Tyler Tsubota

Hilo: Billy Ray, Leo Campbell, Bronson Kahaleua, Alan Tilanus, James Yoshimoto, Cameron Calistro

Honoka’a: Ian Laird, Chris Mosch

Kea’au: Jesse Huihui, Edward Dalton, Broc Bangloy, Daniel Brooks, Patrick Understeller, Jelani Alcott, Jelani Young

Kealakehe: Remington Noguchi, Jake Jordan, Luca Walter

Kohala: Ethan Meikle, Conn Wallman

Konawaena: Austin Denike, Ricky Pekala

Kamehameha: Kainoa Crum, Manta Dircks, Isaac DeRego, Pon

Kealakehe Athletic Program Dysfunctional?

Retired journalist, Hugh Clark, holds no punches in his editorial criticism of Kealakehe principal, Wilfred Murakami, and the Waverider athletic program.

     Tiffany Edwards posted Clark’s remarks on her blog and the entire story can be found at http://bigislandchronicle.com

BIIF All League Girl’s for Track & Field

BIIF All-League Girls Track and Field 2009                      

Athlete of the Year: Ku’uipo Nakoa JR Hawaii Prep

Coach of the Year: Kamehameha Coaches

Event	1st Team	2nd Team
110 Hurdles	Aubrey Lea Shaw SR Kamehameha	Cheray Brzezowski SR Kamehameha
100m	Corie Schattauer SR Hilo	Ku’uipo Nakoa JR Hawaii Prep
1500m	Noelani Vargas SR Hawaii Prep	Tialana Greenwell SO Honoka’a
400m	Randi Estrada FR Keaau	Bronte Kaneakua JR Kamehameha
300m Hurdles	Kini Shuping SR Hawaii Prep	Aubrey Lea Shaw SR Kamehameha
800m	Noelani Vargas SR Hawaii Prep	Kaitlyn Chock JR Waiakea
200m	Ku’uipo Nakoa JR Hawaii Prep	Corie Schattuaer SR Hilo
3000m	Athena Oldfather JR Honoka’a	Tialana Greenwell SO Honokaa
High Jump	Cassie Morigaki SR Waiakea	(Tie) Mindy Campbell JR Hawaii PrepErika Cushnie JR Hawaii Prep
Pole Vault	Chung FR Hilo	Sydney Budde FR Hawaii Prep
Long Jump	Ku’uipo Nakoa  JR Hawaii Prep	Cheray Brzezowski SR Kamehameha
Triple Jump	Ku’uipo Nakoa JR Hawaii Prep	Cheray Brzezowski SR Kamehameha
Discus Throw	Kaopuanani Sutton JR Kamehameha	Ariel Moniz SR Hilo
Shot Put	Brianna Vargas-Hafoka  JR Kamehameha	Julia Naumes SR Kohala

Honorable MentionChristian Liberty:

Hawaii Prep: Tatiana Marti, Lana Queen, Kela Vargas, Hana Scully

Hilo: Linda Sunia, Alyssa Hoshide, Shalila De Bourmont

Honoka’a: Kim Kishimoto

Kea’au: Ariana Graham, Amy Eriksson, Azmera Hammouri, Kathleen Van Cleave

Kealakehe: Rachael Bianchi, Kaila Voss

Kohala: Mary Josephine Osorio

Konawaena: Anuhea Wall, Anjelica Sanderson, Kaua Wall

Kamehameha: Lilinoe Heaukulani, Lyan Apilado, Jessica Marote, Victoria Evans-Bautista, Natasha Ah Chong, Kaitlyn Yamamoto, Kekelaokalaui Bennett, Corin Kim

Ku O Ka La: Lorena Shire

Waiakea: Alyssa Buyuan, Kelsie Kobayashi,

EMS Run/Walk attracts 733 participants

Jesse Ebersole, Sally Marrack, Germain Ortiz, Fire Chief Darryl Oliveira

The 9^th Annual Emergency Medical Services  Run/Walk was held this past Sunday starting near the entrance of Liliuokalani Gardens in Hilo.

     More than 700 runners, walkers and joggers laced up their shoes to participate in either the 5K (3.1-mile) run or two-mile walk.  The event also hosted a non-competitive keiki quarter-mile run on the grass through Liliuokalani Gardens for children age’s three to ten.   

     The event was the brainchild of Fire Chief Darryl Oliveira to get the Fire Department to annually recognize EMS Week, a time to educate the public’s awareness to what EMS provides on our island.

   “The EMS run/walk is a great opportunity to showcase what we have to the community and it is a chance for us to give back to the community,” Chief Oliveira said.

      “We are extremely grateful to all the participants who come out and support our event on a busy Memorial Day weekend,” Chief Oliveira said.  “And we are grateful to the numerous local businesses who donate to our event.”

    In the competitive 3.1-mile run a group of well known community runners led the first pack of runners through the first half-mile of the race.  Billy Barnett, Germain Ortiz, Alan Ryan and Johan Dana took off at the gun and quickly separated themselves from the rest of the harriers.

   At one mile the race became a two man effort with Ortiz and Barnnet pushing the pace.  Ortiz, who won the EMS in 2007 and placed second overall in the Hilo Marathon this past March, was familiar with the course and experienced in racing.

   Both runners exchanged the lead several times before Ortiz pulled out the narrow victory in 17 minutes and 16 seconds with Barnett less than two seconds behind.

   “My plan was to stay behind the leader for the first mile,” Ortiz said after the race.  “But he (Barnett) was too strong and I didn’t manage to pass him until 1.5 miles.”

   But Ortiz lead didn’t last for long as Barnett pulled in front for a second time at the turn-around point.  “I caught up to him at the bridge (Suissan) and we were running shoulder to shoulder towards the finish,” Ortiz said.

    Barnett made a mistake coming into the finish line at Liliuokalani Gardens when he briefly made a right turn to circle the Gardens in the opposite direction.  “That mistake may have cost him the race,” Ortiz said.

    “It’s not a problem as I had a good time doing this race,” Barnett said of his mistake.  “I just heard about the race last night and signed up this morning.  I plan on going for a long run later this morning and just wanted to have fun doing the race.”

    Firefighter/Paramedic, Jesse Ebersole services as the race director for the EMS which has seen the race grow each year.  This year’s total entries for all three races reached 733, a new high for the EMS, according to Ebersole.

   Ebersole decided to run in Sunday’s 5K for only the second time in its nine year history.   “I need to do more training and less coordinating,” Ebersole said immediately after crossing the finish line.”

     Despite his inability to train on a regular basis Ebersole was still the first Public Safety Employee to cross the line.  “I haven’t raced in about two years, but something told me last night that I should give it a try,” Ebersole said.

   For the women it was all Sally Marrick as the top Big Island woman in the Hilo Marathon became the overall winner in her first EMS run.

   “After the Hilo Marathon I hurt my knee and needed to take three weeks off,” Marrick said.  “I’m just getting back to racing and today I felt really good.  My goal coming in was just to complete the race and I am very happy with the result.”

   Over the past seven years more than $50,000 raised by the EMS event has gone to various health care related charities including the New York Firefighters Widows and Children’s Fund, Hawaii Police Activities League, Hospice of Hilo, Easter Seals of Hawaii, Hawaii Bone Marrow Registry, Hilo Medical Center Emergency Room Expansion, Alzheimer’s Aloha Chapter and several Hawaii Island Residents who were battling Cancer according to Ebersole.

   Proceeds from this year’s race are going to a Hawaii Fire Department Firefighter/Paramedic who is battling Cancer, along with the American Cancer Society Hawaii Island.

        “I am the race director, however we have a core group who share the responsibilities of coordinating the event,” Ebersole said.  “They (coordinators) are Lance Uchida, Darryl Oliveira, Laurie Kaneta, Laura Casey, April Oshiro, Vivian Akine, Jerry Lum, Kainoa Wiley, Ralph Yawata, Garrett Kim and Joyce Cabango.”

    “We are supported race day by many dedicated volunteers from the Fire Department and community in general,” Ebersole said.