Big Dog’s Final HHSAA Top 10 Cross-Country Runners

Seabury's Hailey Grossman expected to lead the pack at HHSAA

The following list was compiled after reviewing the results from the championships in cross-country meets held in all five leagues, OIA, ILH, KIL, MIL and the BIIF.

Coaches and harrier fans may make their own final guess and submit it in the comment section.

To see rankings 11-20 go to: https://waynejoseph.wordpress.com/2009/10/29/big-dogs-picks-for-hhsaa-cross-country-11-20/

TOP 10 GIRLS

Hailey Grossman, Seabury Hall
Tialana Greenwell, Honokaa
Gabriella Jenkins, Mililani
Ellie Brady, Punahou
Kimberly Pugliese, Mililani
Claire Hann, Pac 5
Kristin Ali Keith, Mililani
Kyleigh Mann, Punahou
Kela Vargas, HPA
Julia Brand, Punahou

Top Five Girls Teams in State: 1. Punahou 2. Iolani 3. Mililani 4. Hawaii Preparatory Academy 5. Hawaii Baptist

TOP 10 BOYS

Margarito Martinez, Leilehua
Jordan Thibodeau, Kamehameha-Oahu
Borys Pleskacz, Iolani
Pierce Murphy, Island School
Isaiah Sato, Kamehameha-Oahu
Troy Esaki, Iolani
Nikolai Scharer, Punahou
Chris Mosch, Honokaa
Nicola Perez-Garreaud, Maui
Daniel Kaneko, Kamehameha-Oahu

Top five boy’s teams in state: 1. Kamehameha-Oahu 2. Iolani 3. Punahou 4. Honokaa 5. Leilehua

Good luck on Kauai this Saturday.

October 25, 2009 - Posted by waynejoseph | Running on the Big Island | Borys Pleskacz, Chris Mosch, Claire Hann, Daniel Kaneko, Ellie Brady, Gabriella Jenkins, Hailey Grossman, Isaiah Sato, Jordan Thibodeau, Julia Brand, Kela Vargas, Kimberly Pugliese, Kristin Ali Keith, Kyleigh Mann, Margarito Martinez, Nicola Perez-Garreaud, Nikolai Scharer, Pierce Murphy, Tialana Greenwell, Troy Esaki

11 Comments »

eyyyyyy just stopping by..
but i like this ranking but i would put pierce as number 2
it is his home school that the course is at so he should know it.
just like tia last year she knew HPA well.
but your team rankings look pretty good too,
just a small typo tho, Leilehua

Comment by S.K. | October 25, 2009 | Reply
how could you leave KS Kapalama girls off the list? did you see the ILH champs this past week?

Comment by beewhyucougar | October 27, 2009 | Reply
I think Pierce Murphy should be ranked at least 2nd or 3rd based on his State Track performance at last year, his proximity to Margarito Martinez at the Campbell Invitational and the home course advantage. Murphy was 24 seconds behind Martinez at Campbell, but Jordan Thibodeau 43 seconds back at the Honolulu Marathon Kaiser meet. Thibodeau has had steady competition in the ILH from his teammates and other schools in the ILH throughout the season, so he has the opportunity for the most improvement since earlier in the season, whereas Martinez and Murphy have been running ahead of the rest of the pack in their respective leagues, by themselves in the latter part of the season. This should be a classic ILH/Neighbor Island/OIA matchup, where the 3 top runners should be in striking distance of the title at the end of the race.

Comment by VanNostrand | October 27, 2009 | Reply
For the girls team title, if you are going to rank Iolani ahead of Mililani, you should also put Kamehameha ahead of them, since Kamehameha was 2nd place ahead of Iolani at the ILH Championships, even though it was only by 2 pts. Otherwise Mililani should be 2nd, since they were 30 pts ahead of Iolani at Punahou Invitationals.
I agree with the individual rankings. Grossman proved herself against the OIA and ILH competition at the Kaiser Invitational, but we have yet to see how Greenwell does in head to head competition with any of the top runners this year. As the top returning runner from last year’s State Championship, Greenwell does deserve to be ranked 2nd if not 1st.

Comment by XCObserver | October 27, 2009 | Reply
Mililani to pull the upset by 1 or 2 points over Punahou in the girls competition.　It should ｂe a nailbiter either way.　Iolani is not the #2 team in the state this year. Just my opinion. It should be an outstanding CC meet.

Comment by Frank Pugliese | October 27, 2009 | Reply
- I agree, and what great talent coming up on the boys side!
  Kimberly has been doing so well, very consistent. 😉
  
  Comment by Leeward Runner | October 28, 2009 | Reply
I notice that you have only Punahou and Honoka’a with potential top-10 finishers in both the girls and boys races. Go Dragons!

Comment by W.A.M. | October 28, 2009 | Reply
Mililani girls top 3 is slightly better than Punahou’s, but the Punahou 4th and 5th runners outmatch Mililani, and they will win the team title for them.

Comment by XCObserver | October 28, 2009 | Reply
The videos of the Island School State meet from 2001 on the Mililani site offers a sneak peek of this year’s course.

Comment by CCathlete | October 28, 2009 | Reply
Look for top 10 finish with one of two freshman from Mililani H.S. in boys race who have been on JV. These kids are improving by leaps and bounds in every race and keep trading places in their finishes. Should be a very exciting race should they continue their trend in the State Meet.

Comment by Leeward Runner | October 28, 2009 | Reply
- Totally agree with this….Zach has been running unbelievable since he lost to Ryan in the Westerns. He should finish easily in the top 20. He might even beat Colin (Aiea) in the final tally. Just my opinion.
  
  Comment by Quadrunner | October 28, 2009 | Reply