Kealakehe Girls Upset Waiakea in BIIF Championship Swimming

Waiakea's DQ in 200 Relay give 'Riders team victory

   Five league records fell this past weekend and the Waiakea boys and the Kealakehe girls won team titles in the Big Island Interscholastic Federation Swimming Championships from the Kona Community Aquatics Center.

   Waiakea came into the finals as the heavy favorites to win the girls crown for the second year in a row, but was upset by a determined Kealakehe squad when the Warriors suffered a disqualification in the 200 freestyle relay. 

   “It was a huge surprise for us to win the team title,” Waverider coach Steve Borowski said.  “Our girls did a great job and they performed better than expected. I believe they peaked and tapered perfectly.  The whole team did great.”

Alyssa Foo

Kealakehe was led by Alyssa Foo who came up with big wins in the 100 butterfly and the 100 backstroke (new league record 59.84 seconds), along with teammate Madison Hauanio who won the 200 Individual Medley and finished second in the 500 free.

   Foo broke the 100 back record that was set by fellow Waverider, Ashley Rose in 2001.

   “I was in a really good mood,” Foo said of her record breaking event.  “We didn’t really taper totally for the BIIF’s, so I think I can go even faster at the state championships if I continue to train hard.”

   Foo was also happy that Kealakehe regained the BIIF team title.

   “We won the team title in my freshmen and sophomore years, before losing it to Waiakea last year,” she said.  “I was happy that we could do it again in my senior year with only nine girls.”

    The public school Warrior boys pulled out a team victory over defending champions Hawaii Prep by a score of 148 to 116.

   “Our boys came through,” Waiakea coach Bill Sakovich said.  “Frank (Chi) was outstanding as usual and we got great relay races from David Sumada, Ryan Kawano, Grant Uekawa and Campbell Causey.”

   Sakovich had high praise for many of his swimmers including Causey who won the 500 freestyle and finished second in the 200 free.

   “All our kids did great and I am especially grateful to our coaches who helped us in getting these kids prepared for the finals,” Sakovich said.

   “I’m a little disappointed that we didn’t repeat for the girl’s title, but it’s a meet and anything can happen at meets,” Sakovich said.  “The Kealakehe girls did exactly what they were supposed to do and they did an excellent job.”

Logan Borowski

   In a much anticipated showdown between the best two swimmers in the 100 butterfly, Kealakehe’s Nicholas Garrett squared off against Hawaii Prep’s Logan Borowski showcasing the fastest fly stroke swimmers in the pool.

   Garrett came into the event as the two time BIIF butterfly champion and BIIF record holder, as Ka Makani junior Logan Borowski began to close in on Garrett’s record during the later part of the season.

  Borowski who had earlier in the day came away with the 50 freestyle title in a personal best time of 21.45 seconds and Garrett, the eventual winner of the 200 free, 1:46.22, met for the BIIF 100 butterfly title.

   Borowski’s winning time of 51.59 seconds eclipsed Garrett’s previous record of 52.02 set last year.

   “Nick is a really good swimmer and I knew I had to go out fast in the first 50, then try to hold him off,” Borowski said.  “I wasn’t thinking about the record as I was just trying to win the event.”

Frank Chi

Waiakea’s Frank Chi came into the finals wanting to break his own record in the  100 breaststroke for the fourth time this season. 

   Chi lowered the BIIF record to 58.7 seconds on Friday night and was determined to go even faster during the championship finals.  On Saturday the senior again rewrote the league record books by clocking in at 58.61 seconds.

    “I knew I could go hard and faster,” Chi said of his record breaking swim.  “I just pushed myself both in practice and during the meets.”

   Chi, who finished third in the state for the past two seasons in the breaststroke believes he can challenge for top honors this year.

   “I can still go faster and I believe that if I work hard I can get my time under 58 seconds,” he said.

    Ka Makani 200 boys freestyle relay team was back in the water, setting a new league record for the second time this season.  Using all juniors in Kyle Katase, Kaikea Nakachi, Ryan Ross and Logan Borowski as the anchor the HPA foursome clocked in at 1:29.35 to break their previous record of 1:29.80.

Kaikea Nakachi

“All four of us are going to swim the three relays as the state championship and we are only going to swim one individual race each,” Borowski said.  “I plan on focusing on the 50 free at states.”

   Nakachi defended his BIIF 100 backstroke title and claimed top honors in the 200 Individual Medley events.

   Waiakea’s David Sumada, the defending BIIF champion in the 200 freestyle, was upset by Garrett but later rebounded with a victory in the 100 free.

   “I’m really excited about my 100 free time,” Sumada said.  “It was my fastest time this season, 48.6 seconds, and I know this might sound silly, but before the event I thought of my coaches smile (Justin Pierce) and that helped me to swim my best.”

   Waiakea freshmen, Madisyn Uekawa became a BIIF champion in both the 100 free and 100 breaststroke.

   “I was a little nervous going into the championships, but I think I swam well and I tried my best,” Uekawa said.  “It felt good, but I think I should have gone out harder in both my races. I’m hoping I can do better at states.

   The HHSAA swim championships finals will be held at Kamehameha-Hawaii on February 13.

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Worlds Fastest Sprinters in 2009: Richards & Bolt

Sanya Richards, USA

Sanya Richards:

  

	World Champion, 400m (’09)
–	American Record Holder~400m dash 48.70sec
–	Most sub-50 400meter races in history
–	2-time Olympic 4x400m gold medalist and 400m bronze medalist (’04, ’08)
–	5-time USA Outdoor Champion (’03, ’05, ’06, ’08, ’09);
–	2-time World Outdoor 4x400m gold medalist (’05, ’07)
–	IAAF World Athlete of the Year and Jesse Owens Award winner (2006)
–	World Outdoor silver medalist (2005))
–	Visa Champion and Humanitarian Athlete of the Year (2005))

Usain Bolt, Jamaica

Usain Bolt

Personal bests

Event	Time (seconds)	Venue	Date	Records	Notes
100 metres	9.58	Berlin, Germany	16 August 2009		Also shares the second fastest time of 9.69 with Tyson Gay. Usain’s 9.69 set the Olympic record in 2008.
150 metres	14.35	Manchester, United Kingdom	17 May 2009	World best[147]	He ran the last 100 m in 8.70, the fastest ever recorded time over a 100 m distance.
200 metres	19.19	Berlin, Germany	20 August 2009		Also holds the second fastest time with 19.30, which is the Olympic Record.
400 metres	45.28[7]	Kingston, Jamaica	5 May 2007
4 x 100 metres relay	37.10	Beijing, China	22 August 2008		Shared with Asafa Powell, Michael Frater and Nesta Carter. Also holds the second fastest time with 37.31.

America’s Best Female Distance Runner – Amy Yoder-Begley

Amy Yoder-Begley 10,000 meter specialist

AMY YODER-BEGLEY

Career Highlights: 2009 USA Outdoor 10,000m champion; 2009 USA Indoor 3,000m champion; 2009 USA 15 km champion; 3rd at 2008 Olympic Trials; 2001 NCAA Outdoor champion; 2000 NCAA Indoor 5,000m champion; 2000 NCAA Outdoor 5,000m runner-up; 16-time All American

Yoder Begley was the top finishing American at the 2009 IAAF World Championships in the women’s 10,000 meters, finishing the race in sixth-place in a personal best 31 minutes 13.78 seconds.

Yoder Begley faced 2008 Olympic 10,000m bronze medalist Shalane Flanagan and traded the lead twice in the final lap, with Yoder Begley emerging as the victor in 31 minutes, 22.69 seconds, which is the #9 U.S. women’s 10,000m time in history.

America’s Best

Yoder Begley entered the Olympic Trials lacking the Olympic “A” qualifying standard of 31:45:00 – a time she needed to beat in order to ensure a place on the team. Knowing a ticket to Beijing was on the line, she took the lead with seven laps to go before falling to third behind Shalane Flanagan and Kara Goucher. Running alone and visibly digging for every available bit of energy, she needed to cover the final 800 meters in 2:20 to beat the 31:45 standard. It took minutes after she crossed the finish line for her time to be displayed on the scoreboard, but when it did, it was cause for celebration. 31 minutes, 43.60 seconds. Yoder Begley made it to Beijing with 1.40 seconds to spare.

Yoder Begley graduated from Arkansas with a BS in Exercise Science/ Biomechanics…married to Andrew Begley, a standout for the legendary Arkansas men’s team…afflicted with Celiac disease, Begley cannot consume the protein gluten, which is found in bread, pasta, cookies, pizza crust and many other foods containing wheat, barley or rye.

Three Steps to Better Health

Reducing your total calorie intake can lead to better health

SLEEP MORE, EAT LESS, KEEP MOVING

    Wouldn’t it be great if you could achieve better health in just a few easy steps? Of course, it’s never that easy, but here are a few things you can work on right now in your quest for a lifetime of health and wellness:

 Sleep More:   We’ve become a culture of sleep deprivation rather than rest; there are so many things to do and so little time to do them that we often sacrifice what we need most for good health: sleep. Poor sleep contributes to fatigue and irritability in the short term and is linked to serious health conditions in the long term. So tonight, turn in early and get the sleep your body and mind deserve.

 Eat Less:   Excess – another cultural staple that wreaks havoc on our bodies and leads to obesity, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and more. Portion control is a major step toward attaining and maintaining a healthy weight, as is eating less overall. Too many of us fall victim to the buffet and “super size” mentality, rather than eating frequent small meals that will fuel your body the right way.

 Keep Moving:   With obesity at an all-time high and on the rise, there’s no better time to get off the couch and start moving. It’s a simple concept: When your body moves, good things happen – increased metabolism, fat loss, better circulation; and when it doesn’t move, you’re setting the stage for all sorts ofnegative consequences, including weight gain, various diseases and even cancer.

 Talk to your doctor about other ways you can improve your health and happiness – one step at a time.

America’s Fastest Distance Runner, Kenyan born, Bernard Lagat

Kenyan born, Bernard Lagat, owns three American distance records

Who is America’s fastest distance runner?    Kenyan born, Bernard Lagat, holds that title since becoming a naturalized citizen of the United States in May 2004.

Oddly enough Lagat competed for Kenya in the 2004 Summer Olympics and won a silver medal in the 1500. 

Lagat now lives in Tucson Arizona with his wife Gladys Tom, a Canadian of Chinese decent.

Lagat wins a silver medal for Kenya

Since the U.S. allows dual citizenship which means that since 2004 Lagat can be ratified to have broken American records.  However the USATF did not ratify his August 2004 1500 meter record time of 3 minutes 27.40 seconds.

Lagat does own three other American records from races that he ran in 2005.  He set the American record in the indoor mile with a time of 3:49.89 during which his 1500 meter split time of 3:33.34 also established an American record.

Later, while running in Rieti, Italy in August 2005, Lagat set the American outdoor record for the 1500 meters with his time of 3:29.40.

So there you have it.  Since the U.S. can no longer produce outstanding distance runners the next best thing to do is import them from Kenya.