Bright pink shoes lead way around oval in BIIF track & field

WAIMEA – Bright pink racing shoes was easy to see from anywhere on the track but it was the altitude that played the biggest role for Waiakea distance runner Jackson Halford as he ran the 3000 at the Stan Shutes track at Hawaii Preparatory Academy on Saturday.

Halford, participating in the final regular season meet in the Big Island Interscholastic Federation before running in the BIIF Qualifiers on Friday was content with his 3K performance.

“I’m okay with my time today (9:25)” Halford said.  “After all it is HPA and it’s hard to know where I’m really at because of the altitude.”

Halford, with his bright pink pair of racing flats, made it look easy as he weaved his way around the oval lapping slower runners in the process.

Halford a master at distance racing showed his strength in the 1500 finishing in 4:17 which brought a smile to his face.

“Anytime I can go under 4:19 I’m happy,” Halford said.  “The 1500 may be my best event and I will run it, along with the 800 and 3000 in BIIF’s”

On the other side of the ledger, teammate Kelsie Kobayashi did a repeat performance of her male counterpart by winning the 3K.

“My mind wasn’t into racing for most of the season,” Kobayashi said.  “Today I finally put it all together as my heart was in it and I wasn’t worried about who was in this race.”

Kobayashi ran the seven and a half lap race, distancing herself from the rest of the field with every lap.

“I was hitting my splits today and getting myself confidence back,” Kobayashi said. “This is my favorite race and I still believe I can improve on my time.”

Kobayashi’s time of 11 minutes 26 seconds was the best of her four years running varsity track at Waiakea.

“I paced myself properly and focused on my time, not my competition,” she said.  “I’ve never run this fast and believe I am peaking at the right time.”

The defending state champion in the girls 1500, HPA’s Zoe Sims had a real battle as she went against Hilo’s Carmen Garson-Shumway.

“Carmen and I are track friends and I respect her a lot for her running ability.” Sims said.

During the 1500 the two girls exchanged the lead several times and the race was never decided until the final meter with Sims leaning across the finish line first.

Sims was also on the track for the 800 in which she won in a time of 2:23.

“My 800 time was okay, the race felt good and it was fun to run,” Sims said.  “I like running the 800 and today I managed to hit my split times.”

For the boys it was Kealakehe’s Luca Walter tearing up the track in both the 800 and 400 races.

“I reached one of my goals today when I went under 2 minutes for the 800,” Walter said.    

Walter, who will be a walk on at Western Oregon, wanted to get his 800 time under 2 minutes.

“I needed to get it under 2 in order to have the college coaches take a better look at me when I walk on,” he said.  “Now I need to get my 400 time under 50 seconds.”

“Today I focused on the 800 and next week the focus will be in the 400,” Walter said.

Walter was also the anchor leg in the 4×400 relay and helped lead the Waveriders to victory in 3:32.

The heavy weight of field events, double state defending champion in the shot and discus throws, HPA’s Shane Brostek was having a sub Brostek performance.

“I was off today and wasn’t happy with my throws in both events,” Brostek said.  “I like winning, but for me it’s more about improving that makes the difference.”

Brostek threw the shot 56 feet, two weeks ago, which makes him the state leader, but Saturday’s throw didn’t make the humble giant very happy.

“I worked really hard during the week lifting and practicing, so I wasn’t very happy with what I did today,” Brostek said.

While Brostek was throwing far away from the track, on the infield was Keaau’s Cliff Eriksson, the BIIF leader in the boy’s high jump.

The heavy weight of field events, double state defending champion in the shot and discus throws, HPA’s Shane Brostek was having a sub Brostek performance.

“I was off today and wasn’t happy with my throws in both events,” Brostek said.  “I like winning, but for me it’s more about improving that makes the difference.”

Brostek threw the shot 56 feet, two weeks ago, which makes him the state leader, but Saturday’s throw didn’t make the humble giant very happy.

“I worked really hard during the week lifting and practicing, so I wasn’t very happy with what I did today,” Brostek said.

While Brostek was throwing far away from the track, on the infield was Keaau’s Cliff Eriksson, the BIIF leader in the boy’s high jump.

Eriksson entered the competition at 5-8 and leaped his way up and over the cross bar, clearing a personal best height of 6-02 before failing to clear at 6-03, but it was his earlier victory in the 110 hurdles that he was most pleased with.

“I’m really happy with my 110 performance,” he said.  “This is the first time that I’ve won the 110.”

Eriksson complained of sore legs during the week and his mini break seemed to have revived his body.

“It was a hard practice week for my, but today I felt really good,” he said.  “The high jump is my favorite and best event.”

Eriksson also finished second in the 300 hurdles and second in the 4×400 relay.

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Defending state champs Galdeira, Ruedy and Akau peaking in track & field

KEAAU – Three defending state champions sunk their spikes into the all weather track at Kamehameha to rise to the top of their competition at a Big Island Interscholastic all schools track and field meet held on Saturday.

Konawaena’s Lia Galdeira and Ua Ruedy along with Kamehameha’s Kaenen Akau distanced themselves from the rest of the league as they prepare to defend their state crowns in three weeks.

Galdeira opened the day running away from the field in the 100 hurdles in a blistering time of 14.8 seconds, then moments later returned to win the 100 dash in 12.54.

The amazing Wildcat managed to squeeze in the long jump between the two 100 races, winning with a giant leap of 17-11.75 and finished the day with a triple jump victory of 35-08.5.

The state champion in the 100 hurdles complemented her coaches for much of her track success.

“Our coaches are great, as they know what they are talking about,” Galdeira said.  “I wasn’t even going to come out for track this season because I wanted to focus on academics but they convinced me to come out.”

Galdeira needed to get up early to catch the 5 am bus from Kona to Kamehameha and forgot something in the process.

“I forgot to pack my track shorts and just brought this ordinary pair of shorts,” she said. “I think I could have done better had I brought my correct shorts, especially in the long jump.”

Teammate Ruedy brought all the right equipment and dazzled the crowd in the 300 hurdles racing away from the rest of the field.

The defending state champion in the 300 ran a flawless race while looking like a gazelle traversing the obstacles in perfect strides.

“It was okay today because I got a slow start,” Ruedy said.  “I know I can improve my time a lot and I need to get out of the blocks quicker and not slow down.”

During the girls long jump 8 girls jumped over 15 feet.

“It shows the level of competition is at an all time high and at a state level,” Jordan Rosado the long jump official said.

Kamehameha’s Akau was up to his normal patterns in the long jump, fouling in his first two attempts before making the final jump count.

“I know that my first jump is the most important, but I have marks from the previous weeks so I can give my all on every jump,” Akau said.

The defending state champ in the long jump decided to take two steps back on his final jump then unleashed his personal best launching a 22-.75 and in the process setting a new stadium record.

“On my final jump I moved back 2 steps, but I know that getting a mark on my first jump is most important,” Akau said.  “I’m shooting to reach 23 feet by the BIIF championships.”

Akau also started his day winning the 100 meter dash and in the process set a new stadium record at 11.04 seconds.

“I’m still working on being relaxed in the 100,” Akau said.  “I tense up and my stride lessens.”

In the 100 Akau was challenged by Keaau’s Jesse Huihui in a battle to the finish.

“Jesse is a great competitor and I felt the urge to push myself harder with him in the race.” Akau said.

The 400 dash saw the return of Kealakehe’s Luca Walter to his first all schools meet this season.

Walter wasted no time reminding people who the BIIF champion is by clocking a 50.7 second time to place himself as the second best time in the state.

“I want to hit 49 seconds by the BIIF championships,” Walter said.  “I need to work on my start out of the blocks to be faster.”

Walter clocked a league leading time in the 800 with a 2:01.87.

“I’m pretty excited with my 800 time and I think I can bring that under 2 minutes within the next two weeks,” he said.

In the 200 dash it was Keaau’s Damien Packer winning his second race after taking the 110 hurdles.

“My 200 time can improve if I kick out of the turns better and have faster feet,” Packer said. “I need to get faster and not tense up as much.”

Another defending state champion in the shot put, HPA’s Shane Brostek, was at the Punahou Relays on Oahu and was selected most outstanding for winning both the shot and discus.

Running around the oval and not getting much attention is Pahoa sophomore Micah Davis.

Davis, for the past two weeks, has decided to run in every event from the 100, 200, 400, 800, 1500 and 3000.

“I thought it was amazing that someone who finishes last in every event would have the will power to do all the running events,” Kamehameha Coach Ryan Cabalse said.

“I feel like I’d rather run than sit in the bleachers,” Davis said.  “I’ve been second to last twice and I beat my times from the week before.”

Davis has a twin brother, Josh, who also runs for the Daggers, but it is Micah that will take on the task of doing every running event that the league has to offer.

“I’m improving each week and I want to get faster,” Micah said.  “I do it just for me and not for anyone else.”

The BIIF regular season concludes with an all schools meet at Hawaii Predatory Academy on Saturday starting at 9 am.

Kau’s Strand-Nicolaisen wins 100 hurdles, long and triple jumps at Keaau meet

KEAAU – Pouring rain and a bone chilling wind didn’t prevent Kau’s Marley Strand-Nicolaisen from winning the first event of the day as the Trojan stood at the starting line of the 100 meter hurdles.

“During my warm ups a strong wind would kick up and I would have to start all over again,” Strand-Nicolaisen said.  “It was difficult to get myself into the right frame space and get this race over with.”

Strand-Nicolaisen along with her competitors couldn’t escape being drenched and then had to fight against the chill while jumping up and down to stay warm.

“I really wanted to win the 100 hurdles because I was second last week,” Strand-Nicolaisen said.  “I want to come back and win today and focus my concentration on winning the triple jump.”

Big Island Interscholastic Federation East Side track and field schools were at Keaau on Saturday while the West Side were running on the Hawaii Preparatory campus.

Strand-Nicolaisen became a triple event winner as she claimed victories in the long and triple jumps.

“My favorite event is the triple,” she said after leaping 34-9.75.  “I’m hoping to go beyond 35 feet during the season in the triple and I’m feeling a lot better on my long as I am improving on my last year’s mark.”

Across the field the pole vaulters were experiencing a few rain delays but it didn’t infringe on the outcome for the two BIIF defending champions with Hilo’s Shina Chung winning the girls and Keaau’s Nelson Enos winning the boys.

“I’m not finishing and I need to work more on my technique,” Enos said of his 13 foot clearance.  “I think I can go pass 14 feet.”

Enos used a 14 foot pole and knew what it would take to eclipse the mental barrier while predicting things to come in this Saturday’s meet.

“I’ll be practicing hard during the week and when we’re in Kona I’ll clear 14 feet,” the confident Cougar senior said.  “I keep dropping my legs when I go over the bar and I need to work on that.”

Hilo’s Chung was also a little disgruntled with the 10 foot clearance as she strives to go 10-5.

“It just wasn’t in me today,” Chung said.  “I’m on a bigger pole than last year while I am making the transition from an 11-6 pole to a 12 foot pole.”

Chung is also hoping for bigger and better things on Saturday in Kona.

“I think I can go a lot higher with a bigger pole, but I’m okay with today,” Chung said.  “I try not to take meets for granted and I always try to do the best that I can.”

While Chung was trying to leap tall buildings fellow Viking teammate Mehana Sabado-Halpern, a freshman, was going against a senior from Waiakea in the 1500.

“I surprised myself today,” she said of her 5:10 victory over Kelsey Kobayashi.  “I wanted to hit 5:15 so I’m really happy with today’s results.”

Sabado-Halpern credited teammate Carmen Garson-Shumway with providing her the skills necessary to run the distance race.

“Carmen has been giving me a lot of tips and has really helped me gain more confidence,” she said.

The Viking freshman has also been exploring a variety of events as she’s been in the 100, 200, 400 and 800.

Waiakea’s Michael Morikawa was injured during the 110 hurdles when his knee clipped a hurdle, but didn’t lose a step when he also competed in the long and triple jumps and the 300 hurdles.

“I was dreading the 300 today,” Morikawa said.

With knee wrapped and traces of blood leaking through the bandage Morikawa didn’t lose a step when trailing Keaau’s Damien Packer into the final turn.

“My adrenaline kicked in so I didn’t feel the pain,” Morikawa said.  “When I caught up to Damien I discovered I could win when I realized that he was stuttering his steps.”

Packer was in Lane 3 and Morikawa in Lane 4 as the duo came racing to the finish.  Morikawa pulled out the victory and in the process managed a personal best time of 43.02.

Warrior teammate Ian McQuate also pulled out an upset when he won the 3000 meter race, breaking 10 minutes in the process.

Last week it was St. Joseph’s Andrew Langtry running away from the rest of the field to win comfortably, but on Saturday McQuate did the near improbable.

Langtry took the early lead with Hilo’s Steven Hunter hanging onto second for the first three laps in a seven and a half lap race.

“I was just trying to keep my pace and I had lost track of how many laps I had left,” McQuate said.  “I was a little confused, and I was never sure of myself.”

McQuate pulled up to Hunter and Langtry and then surged his way into the lead with less than 3 laps to go.

“Once I took the lead I did not want them to catch up to me so I began to speed up,” McQuate said.  “I thought I might have a chance to win the race and it became more about me never wanting them to catch up.”

The BIIF venue moves to Konawaena on Saturday with an all schools meet beginning at 9 am.

Large number of BIIF TRack & Field athletes make finals of HHSAA

After day one of the HHSAA track & field qualifiers held on Maui several Big Island Interscholastic Federation Athletes made it into today’s finals.  Below is the list of qualifiers going into the finals:

BOYS                 Shane Brostek, HPA, #1 shot, #3 discus

Mauna Palamama-Danielson, WHS, #5 shot, #7 discus              Kaenen Aukai Akua, Kamehameha, #3 long jump

Everett McKee, Kamehameha, #5 long jump, #7 110 Hurdles                   Michael Morikawa, WHS, #6, long jump

Travis Winters, WHS, #7 long jump, and FINISHED #3 high jump going 6-02

Jesse Huihui, Keaau, #8 100, #5 200

Jackson Halford, WHS, #6 1500, #7 800              Luca Walter, Kealakehe, #3 400

Chris Mosch, Honokaa, #8 3K                                     Andrew Langtry, St. Joseph, #12 3K

GIRLS

Emalia Galdeira, Kona, #1 long jump, #5 triple jump, #3 100 hurdles, #5 100, #6 200  McKenna Davidson, Kealakehe, #8 long jump

Marley Strand-Nicolaisen, Kau, #8 triple jump           Lana Queen, HPA, #6 100 hurdles, #4 300 hurdles

Zoe Sims, HPA, #4 1500, #2 400                                     Carmen Garson-Shumway, Hilo, #5 1500

Kristiana Van Pernis, HPA, #6 1500, #3 800               Kela Vargas, HPA, #9, 1500

Randi Estrada, Keaau, #7 400                                        Ua Ruedy, Kona, #3 300 hurdles

HPA girls seeded #2 in the 4×400 relay                    Kealakehe girls seeded #7 4×400 relay

Garson-Shumway and Sims battling for 1500 surpremacy

 

1500 battle between freshman and sophomore

WAIMEA – Hilo freshman, Carmen Garson-Shumway didn’t win a race this past Saturday at the Stanford W. Shutes track at Hawaii Preparatory Academy, but came away as an emerging star in Big Island Interscholastic Federation track and field.

Garson-Shumway ran in the 800 and 1500 meter races against the league’s top athlete, HPA’s Zoe Sims as both girls ran to personal records.

During the 1500 meter race Garson-Shumway clung to Sims, remaining a stride behind, before pulling up to her shoulder at the start of the final lap.

“I was trying to stay with her and that helped me to run my fastest race of my life,” Garson-Shumway said of her 5:04.87 time which gives her an automatic berth at the Hawaii High School Athletic Association championships.

Sims also ran a personal best time, clocking in at 5:01.28 and positioning herself as one of the top five girls in the state at that distance.

“It’s great to have someone push me and I credit Carmen for my personal record time,” Sims said.

Sims had goal split times going into the race that was set by her coach prior to the event and was hoping to break 5:08.

“Carmen helped me stay on pace and I surpassed my goal with her help,” Sims said.  “As a distance runner there is a real comradraire amongst us as we warm up together and I’m glad we were able to push each other.”

In the 800 meter run it was the Sims and Garson-Shumway show once again, but with a different strategy.

Garson-Shumway took the early lead on the two lap race and Sims had to come from behind to capture the victory.

“I’ve never beaten Zoe, but I pulled out early in the 800 and just ran my hardest,” Garson-Shumway said.  “She pushed me to another personal best time as I’m just trying to run faster in each race and hopefully peak at the right time.”

Also producing great results for the Ka Makani was senior Lana Queen who competed in the maximum six events.

Queen came away with two second place finishes in the 100 and 300 hurdles, third in the triple jump, sixth in the long jump and helped her relay team to a first place 4×400 and second in the 4×100.

“The 100 hurdles is probably my favorite race as its more about strategy then it is about physical talent,” Queen said.  “I really wanted to do well today as I just turned 18 and I am finally an adult.”

Konawaena’s basketball star, Emalia Galdeira, was tearing up the track and winning just about everything she entered. Galdeira won the 100 and 200 dash, along with the 100 hurdles, but turned many heads when she leaped 17-05.25 in the long jump.

“I never thought I could hit 17 feet in the long jump,” Galdeira said.  “I’m new at this event and haven’t practiced it much, but I do know that it requires speed and the ability to jump high.”

Galdeira’s long jump ranks her as one of the top competitors in the state and this may not be the end of this multi talented athlete.

“I now think it’s possible for me to go beyond 18 feet,” a confident Galdeira said.

On the far end of the field it was Hilo pole vaulter, Shina Chung, waiting patiently in her purple shoes for the bar to be raised to the state qualifying height of 9 feet.

The Viking junior needed to wait until the other 8 girls in the competition were gone before she could enter the competition.

“I need to practice with a starting height of 9 feet because that’s where they’ll start at states,” Chung said.

Chung was using a new 135 pound purple pole that was borrowed from St. Anthony on Maui.

“When we competed on Maui their coach offered to loan me the pole as purple is my favorite color,” she said.

Chung went on to clear 10 feet before dropping out at 10-06.

“I tried clearing 10-06 today, but I didn’t finish as I couldn’t follow through with my technique,” Chung said.  “I was really sloppy.”

Kamehameha’s Everett McKee won the 110 hurdles, then false started in the 300 hurdles which made the Warrior senior more determined than ever.

“My false start pushed me to do my personal best in the triple jump,” McKee said.  “My previous best jump was 39-07, but I was determined after being disqualified in the hurdles.”

McKee recorded a 41-04.50, good enough for third place, behind Kau winner Alika Kaopua and second place Johnny Chow of Keaau.

HPA’s George Twigg-Smith has accomplished what no other BIIF high jumper has done this season, to clear an automatic state qualifying jump.

Twigg-Smith has never gone above 5-10 in his previous years of competition, but decided, on his home field to clear 6 feet for the first time in his young life.

“I’ve been trying for the last two years to reach a state qualifying height,” Twigg-Smith said.  “It makes it better to do it towards the end of the season as I’m now hoping to go higher.”

Twigg-Smith, a senior who also competes in the long and triple jumps, credits his success to having a new track facility to work on.

“This new track allows me to finally get to practice properly,” he said.  “I don’t believe that I’ve peaked yet and I think I can go higher.  It’s all about fundamentals and bringing up the knees and arching.”

Home track and field advantage went to the Ka Makani as their boys and girls swept the team scoring titles.

HPA girls have been at the top of team scoring throughout the season, but their boys have remained dormant, not winning a scoring meet all season until Saturday.

The BIIF season comes to conclusion with the league qualifiers on Friday, followed by the championships on Saturday at Kamehameha.

Related links:  https://waynejoseph.wordpress.com/2011/04/24/pole-vault-results-from-hpa-has-chung-seeing-purple/

https://waynejoseph.wordpress.com/2011/04/24/800-meter-results-from-stan-shutes-track-at-hpa/

https://waynejoseph.wordpress.com/2011/04/23/100-meter-dash-results-from-hawaii-prep/

https://waynejoseph.wordpress.com/2011/04/23/keaaus-estrada-hpas-twigg-smith-win-high-jump/