Dakota Grossman gets three peat in HHSAA cross country

Coach Bobby with daughter Dakota Grossman

WAIMEA – It wasn’t a repeat performance for the state defending champions the Hawaii Preparatory Academy as they finished runner up to Punahou in team standings while Dakota Grossman of Seabury Hall won her third individual Hawaii High School State Championship.

“I won it my freshman, sophomore and this year my junior year,” Grossman said of the third consecutive state championship.  “It doesn’t get any easier as I still need to work just as hard.”

Things haven’t changed for Grossman as she always tries to get out fast and at the state meet she has lots of harriers willing to do just that.

During her 3 mile race Grossman in traditional fashion took the lead from start to finish with Elli Brady of Punahou and sister Teri Brady sticking close behind.

“My father Bobby Grossman has been coaching me since I was little,” Grossman said.  “Just this season we became Division II (Seabury) and we won the D II title.

Grossman won the race in 20 minutes 21 seconds with HPA’s Zoe Sims becoming the first Big Island Interscholastic Federation top finisher in 5^th place with a time of 21:00 flat.

Other BIIF girls medaling at states (top 20 medals) was HPA’s Erin Evans (7^th 21:21); HPA’s Kristiana Van Pernis (9^th 21:40); Hilo’s Carmen Garson-Shumway (19^th 22:13); Mehana Sabado-Halpern (20^th 22:20).

There were chants of go HPA erupting from the Parisian crowd as the course favorite certainly had those in attendance on their side.

“I’m happy with my race and I did have a PR (personal record)   on this course today.” Garson-Shumway said.  “I went out more relaxed but wasn’t able to stay with my friends from HPA except for Mariah (Haight) as we usually run together as a pack.”

Viking teammate Salbado-Halpern allowed her adrenaline to carry her to a medal.

“I was really excited and this was my first cross country state meet,” she said.   “I didn’t allow those negative thought to creep into head.”

Punahou girls regained the girl’s team title and coach Duncan MacDonald was quick to point out his Hilo ties.

“I was born in Hilo,” MacDonald said.  “This is a great cross country course, we would be happy to run here every year because this is a true cross country course and the course is challenging.”

MacDonald had Kudos for his girls saying that “they are great, and very coachable.”

Punahou won the team title with 42 points over runner up HPA with 72, Kamehameha-Kapalama 186, Mid Pacific Institute 205.

Kamemaha-Hawaii was 9^th overall with 247 and Hilo  10^th with 255 to round out the top BIIF schools.

For the boys team title it was Coach Steve Jenness from Kamehameha-Kapalama returning his to the winners circle for his 11 state championship in 16 years.

“I would like to have the state meet here every year, as this type of course, I feel is one of the best cross country courses in the state,” he said.

Jenness is in his 29^th year at the helm and his coaching philosophy is simple.

“I tell my kids to ‘never say never.”  “At HPA there is a little bit of surprises and there is an interesting mix out on the course to keep it challenging.”

Garson-Shumway

 

 

In the boys 3 miler it was a source of redemption as Parker’s Paul Gregg became the first BIIF harrier to cross the finish line.

 

“My goal today was just to come in first from the BIIF,” Gregg said.  Gregg did just that finishing 22^nd overall in 18:30, two places out of pocketing a state medal).

 

“This was redemption, pretty much a payback for letting Honokaa’s Tony Conners win BIIF’s,” Gregg said.

 

Conners finished in 51^st place with a time of 19:13.

 

Waiakea’s Ian McQuate was the only one to challenge Gregg,  finishing 31^st in 18:51.

 

“I passed Ian with .5 miles to go in the race,”  Gregg said.  “I feel as though I am going out on top as a senior.”

 

Gregg did manage to set a PR on the HPA course.

 

In boys team standings it was 6 times BIIF champions Honokaa placing 12^th with 315 points with Kealakehe 337, Kamehameha-Hawaii 14 with 345.

 

But it wasn’t as bad as it seemed for the Warrior boys.

 

“It was the first time we’ve had a scoring team qualifying for a state championship,” Coach Ryan Cabalse said.  “I was hoping for a top 10 finish but I’ll take 14^th overall.”

 

“The Kamehameha boys cross country program has been in existence 10 years and this is the first time in our history we’ve qualified a scoring team to state,” Coach Cabalse said.

 

“The difference is now they enjoy running and each other,” Coach Cabalse said.  “Run for each other and enjoy the moment.”

 

Lupe Diaz returned an HPA boys scoring team for the first time since 2010 and felt that his scoring team had the ability to break into the top 10 at states, but Ka Makani team was 17^th overall to conclude the season.

 

Kamehameha-Kapalama’s Davis Kaahanui won the boys individual title with a time of 17:07.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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BIIF GIRLS Top 50 – Sims defends titles

BIIF Cross Country Championships
                                Hawaii Prep
                            October 19, 2012              

 

 
Place TmPl No.  Name               Yr School                    Varsity_
===== ==== ==== ================== == ========================= ========
    1    1  F36 ZOE SIMS           12 Hawaii Prep               21:11.00
    2    2  F41 KRISTIANA VAN PERN 11 Hawaii Prep               21:44.05
    3    3  F22 ERIN EVANS         9  Hawaii Prep               21:56.60
    4    4  F52 MEHANA SABADO-HALP 10 Hilo                      22:21.55
    5    5  F46 CARMEN GARSON-SHUM 11 Hilo                      22:48.10
    6    6  F40 KELLY ULRICH       11 Hawaii Prep               22:49.30
    7    7 F133 JOY CHOE           11 Makua Lani                22:51.15
    8    8  F91 KAHALA HUDDLESTON  9  Kamehameha (hawaii)       23:10.15
    9    9 F121 KARI VAN MOLS      12 Kealakehe                 23:19.25
   10   10  F26 MARIAH HAIGHT      11 Hawaii Prep               23:27.00
   11   11  F94 TEHANI JONES       12 Kamehameha (hawaii)       23:27.60
   12   12  F21 EMILY EVANS        12 Hawaii Prep               23:31.05
   13   13  F30 VERONICA LADWIG    11 Hawaii Prep               23:51.80
   14   14 F135 KEILI DORN         10 Makua Lani                23:59.70
   15   15 F108 NATALIE HAGEMANN   12 Kea’au                    24:01.45
   16      F130 SHAYLI NAKAMOTO    10 Konawaena                 24:01.75
   17   16 F144 MARIKO LANGEVIN    12 Parker                    24:06.30
   18       F57 KELLY GREENWELL    12 Honokaa                   24:06.35
   19       F54 HILDHANG ADONA     11 Honokaa                   24:20.20
   20   17  F79 KERA AKIYAMA       12 Kamehameha (hawaii)       24:22.30
   21   18  F90 LAYN TAYLOR GLENN  9  Kamehameha (hawaii)       24:25.35
   22   19  F51 KAYLEE RAPOZA      12 Hilo                      24:34.45
   23   20  F43 JORDYN BREITHARTH  11 Hilo                      24:37.60
   24   21 F143 MARIE JOBES        11 Parker                    24:39.15
   25   22  F92 TIANA IWATA        11 Kamehameha (hawaii)       24:40.50
   26   23 F160 SKYE OMBAC         11 Waiakea                   24:40.70
   27   24  F99 MAKENA WAGNER      9  Kamehameha (hawaii)       24:48.70
   28   25  F85 MIKELA CABEL       11 Kamehameha (hawaii)       25:19.65
   29   26 F138 HANNAH SHIMIZU     9  Makua Lani                25:23.25
   30   27 F146 KIANA BARUELA      11 Waiakea                   25:36.15
   31      F124 LEIGN-ANN RIVERA   11 Kohala                    25:42.65
   32   28  F42 NINA BEAN          10 Hilo                      25:49.70
   33   29 F145 MAIA TARNAS        10 Parker                    25:51.85
   34   30 F118 MARISSA BRYANT-MAN 10 Kealakehe                 26:29.20
   35   31 F134 MERCEDES DECARLI   12 Makua Lani                26:29.95
   36   32  F45 KAITLYN FUNAL      10 Hilo                      27:00.65
   37   33 F158 VANDEY OKINAKA     12 Waiakea                   27:03.60
   38   34   F6 CLARA SHEFFIELD    11 Christian Liberty         27:24.40
   39   35 F141 TAYLYN BOYETTE     12 Parker                    27:29.25
   40   36 F116 DESIREE SUMAOANG   12 Kea’au                    27:33.00
   41   37 F142 MADDY HARPER       10 Parker                    27:33.05
   42   38 F117 RILEY ARROYO       9  Kealakehe                 27:38.45
   43   39  F47 BAILEY HONDA       11 Hilo                      27:38.55
   44   40 F157 JORDAN MELCHOR     10 Waiakea                   27:39.45
   45      F131 LINNEA SINGLETON   10 Konawaena                 27:47.35
   46   41 F120 MAISIE KENNEY      9  Kealakehe                 27:47.45
   47   42 F137 BRIANNE KUPERUS    9  Makua Lani                27:51.20
   48   43 F150 JILLIAN HUGHES     12 Waiakea                   27:54.00
   49   44   F5 ADDISON REESE      9  Christian Liberty         27:54.40
   50   45 F106 AVERY JARRIS       12 Kea’au                    28:12.00

Hilo’s Hunter has a Heart of a Lion

Hunter

For Hilo’s Stephen Hunter it wasn’t a very pretty win during the Big Island Interscholastic Federation all school cross country 3 mile meet hosted by Waiakea.

Hunter a junior Viking won his first ever BIIF harrier race but needed to pause just prior to the finish line to let go of his breakfast.

The regurgitation around 30 yards from the finish nearly allowed home crowd favorite Ian McQuate to close the gap with Hunter crossing the finish in 17:40.43 to McQuate 17:48.95.

“I was just trying to beat Andrew (Langtry from St. Joseph),” Hunter said.  “We try to push each other during practice and I don’t normally beat him in a race.”

During the race Hunter formed a small pack with four other runners besides Langtry, there were Parker’s Paul Gregg and Waiakea’s McQuate.

“I was running scared it helped me run better,” Hunter said.  “It was a little harder to breath when I lost my breakfast on the course.”

The pause allowed McQuate to make up valuable time which almost led to having a new boy’s winner in the almost completed BIIF cross country season.

“I was more motivated today, this being my home course,” McQuate said.  “Towards the end I was definitely thinking I could win this”

Still for McQuate it was his highest finish in a regular season cross country meet.  “I started my

kick too late and my push didn’t have enough at the end.”

Gregg

Parker’s Paul Gregg, who remains one of the most consistent runners in the BIIF finishing in the top 4, came up a little short again at Waiakea.

The senior begin his race content to follow the leaders on the rolling hills of the course and started off in a small pack.

“It was hot this morning and today I wasn’t looking to make this my best race of the season,” Gregg said.   “I accomplished one of my goals in beating Langtry (4^th overall).

“I’m happy where I’m at right now and the only race I really want to win is the BIIF championships on HPA’s course,” Gregg said.

In the boys team standings 13 points separated first though fourth place with Kamehameha-Hawaii 78, Honokaa 80, Hilo 82 and Hawaii Preparatory Academy 91.

In the girls 3 mile race it was HPA’s Kristiana Van Pernis (20:20) claiming her first BIIF title this season

“The game plan was to run and run fast while having fun doing it,” Van Pernis.

Van Pernis a Ka Makani junior took the lead for good on the downhill portion of the course, around the 2.5 mile mark and just pulled away from her competitors.

“Nobody challenged as I had Hilo’s Megan and Kealakehe (Kari Van Mols) staying with me up to that point,” she said. 

For HPA coach Michael Franklin missing one of his better runners didn’t even faze him.

“Zoe (Sims) is out on an official visit to Princeton,” he said.  “I just try to teach our girls to always run happy and to have confidence and humility.  I’m more proud of being a teacher and dorm parent.”

Second in the race was another Ka Makani in Mariah Haight, another junior.

“It was really fun and I felt good,” Haight said.  “I like the Waiakea course, it is really flat compared to ours and all our times are a lot faster.”

For Haight following her coach’s direction becomes second nature.

“He just told us to keep up with the Hilo girls, Mehana and Carmen,” she said.  “He wanted us to go fast and have fun.  I love this course but not as much as HPA’s where we have lots of group support and we know it well.”

For Hilo’s Mehana Sabado-Halperin who won her first BIIF last week came in  second place this week.

“It was really hot out there which made for slow times,” Sabado-Halperin said.  “I am still happy with the outcome because I tried my hardest and that is all I can do.”

Sabado-Halperin was in a battle with Van Pernis and helped each other with the course markings.

“Kristiana and I were talking and not sure where to go as we followed the cones along the course,” Sabado-Halperin said.

The Viking is quick to point out that although Van Pernis and she are competitors they are bonded together.

“We relate together through our common bond and love for running,” the Viking said.  “I told her (Van Pernis) that you got this when we had less than a mile to go.”

In the girls team standings it was HPA winning with 29 points followed by Hilo with 54 and Kamehameha-Hawaii with 63.

“I’m really happy with our team’s outcome as we continue to come in second to HPA each week and we are trying our hardest,” Salbado-Halperin said.  “And we’re having fun doing it.”

The BIIF season continues with two races on Saturday with a BIIF all school meet at HPA starting a 10 am.

Kamehameha Invite cross country story

KEAAU – There was a new face and a familiar face crossing the finish line during a Big Island Interscholastic Federation cross country race this Saturday as Kamehameha played host on their sprawling campus.

Hilo’s Mehana Sabado-Halpern (19:58) won her first BIIF 3 mile race of her young harrier career and St. Joseph’s Andrew Langtry (17:19) won his second in as many weeks, winning at Hawaii Preparatory the previous week.

Sabado-Halpern, a sophomore, never ran cross country last season and discovered her distance talent as a result of being talked in to coming out for the sport by teammate Carmen Garson Shumway.

“We balance each other, Mehana is good at distance and I’m good at speed,” Garson Shumway said.

Garson Shumway finished the varsity race in second overall giving the Vikings a great 1-2 punch but not enough to overcome Ka Makani harriers for the team title.

“We pulled away from the pack of HPA and formed our own pack of two,” Garson Shumway said.  “Mehana and I are only looking at making ourselves better.”

The Hilo duo trailed mid way during the race to a five pack of HPA runners, led by defending BIIF champ Zoe Sims.

“I love running and it is really fun to run together and help a freshman team member,” Sims said.

HPA coach Michael Franklin echoed the same team strategy.  “I wanted our girls to hold the pack together.  I’m really happy with the result.  You don’t need to coach the top runners, you work to reach the 4th through 10th runner on the team,” Franklin said.

The defending state champions Lady Ka Makani harries took the team title with 28 points followed by the Vikings with 63 and the host Warriors with 97.

For Langtry it was his second league victory in as many weeks firmly establishing himself as the one to beat in the BIIF.

“I know I now have a target on my back,” Langtry said.  “I needed to prove something to myself and now I have lots of confidence and I hope to win the league title this season.”

Langtry started out in the middle of the pack and pulled ahead and took the lead for good near the half way mark in the course.

“I pretended someone was right behind me the entire time to be able to put pressure on myself,” Langtry said.

Langtry finished almost 20 seconds ahead of runner up, Parkers Paul Gregg

But seeing the Cardinals back is only making Gregg run faster.

On the HPA course Gregg went out fast and led the race until faltering in the second half to drop to sixth place.

On the Warrior course Gregg used a different strategy.

“I decided to pace off Langtry and the other leaders and I ended up have my best BIIF finish, second overall,” Gregg said.  “I need to do more muscle training and to be more mentally aware on the course before I become a contender for the BIIF title.”

The 8^th Annual Kamehameha Hawaii Invitation Cross Country Meet was held on Saturday with 4 races (2 open races followed by 2 varsity races) with awards going to the top harriers in each race.

“We gave 10 keychain medals in each of the varsity races (both boys and girls races) and 5 keychain medals in each of the open races for a total of 30 medals,” Joel Truesdell, Warrior girls varsity coach said.

Koa plaques were given to the top 3 teams in each varsity race and 2 more koa plaques were given to the tops 2 teams in the open division.

In the girls open Hilo’s Bailey Honda won in a time of 24:30 and HPA won the girls team open title.   For the boys open it was Colton Hill from host Kamehameha in a time of 19:45 with Honokaa taking the boys open team title.

Over the years the Truesdell’s pay for the awards out of their own pocket with the commitment to raise the level of running in the Big Island Interscholastic Federation according to Coach Truesdell.

The only off island team to make the trip this year was Watsonville from Central California with 7 varsity boys and 7 varsity girls.

Watsonville won the boys team title with 46 points distancing Hilo with 76 and Kealakehe (97) five times league champion Honokaa was fourth (100) followed by host Kamehameha Hawaii (113).

Watsonville coach, Alex Siqueiras, was here for a second time and he is glad to return.

“Most of the kids on the team come from Mexico and we like coming so they can see diversity,”  the coach said.  “Just because they are brown doesn’t mean they have to speak Spanish.”

Truesdell has 4 mainland schools teams already committed and they will be running around 850 koa trees planted around the course for the kids to run through.

Also Anna Maxwell, one of the top runners in the country is expected to face off against Hawaii State Champion Dakota Grossman from Seabury, Maui for a second time, according to Truesdell.

Next week league harriers have a BYE and on Sept. 22 action continues with the boys and girls races at Waiakea starting at 10am.

Keaau and Kona win first BIIF Titles in Track & Field

Keaau boys celebrate first team title

KEAAU – The Wildcats and Cougars were running wild on Saturday as their track and field teams swept the girls and boys titles at the Big Island Interscholastic Federation championships.

For the Konawaena girls and the Keaau boys this was their first league championships in school history and a big reason to celebrate.

Keaau Coach Vicky Chai-Guerpo was at a loss for words in what was an emotional journey over several years.

“This was a team effort,” the tearful Cougar coach said.  “I’m so proud of them and they did it for themselves, their parents and for their school.”

The Cougars relied on the experience of a sprint core made up of Jesse Huihui, Damien Packer, and Alexander Engdahl with teammate Cliff Ericksson handling the jumps and hurdles.

Packer and Eriksson got the Cougars started going one, two respectively in the 110 hurdles to give the Cougars 18 team points and from that point forward Keaau never relinquished the team lead.

“It feels very exciting and I’m just glad to have had the opportunity,” Packer said of his 110 victory.  “I think I can do better at states if I remain determined and focused.”

Sprinting also translated into victory in the 4×100 with Keaau showcasing their multitalented corps, not only winning the BIIF relay title by posting the best time in the state with a 43.10 time.

Egdahl, Packer, along with Raskassa Johnson and Jessie Huihui were instrumental in the picture perfect sprint relay for the Cougars.

Balance in Keaau’s firepower could be found everywhere with Cougars Engdahl and Eriksson going 1 and 3 respectively in the 300 hurdles for 16 points.

“It feels awesome to win,” Engdahl said.  “This year I think I can do good at states and I will try my best.”

“This was our first BIIF title, in any sport, in school history,” Keaau Athletic Director Iris McGuire said.  “We entered the BIIF during the 1998-’99 season, so this title means a lot to our school.”

Chai-Guerpo has been the track and field coach at Keaau since 2000.

Keaau’s talent all started with middle school coach Randee Arkin

“Everyone in this school will know that it is possible,” Chai-Guerpo said.  “I’ve been coaching for a while and this has been a long time in coming.”

While the Cougar boys were racking up an enormous lead in the team standing, eventually winning by more than 40 points over a talented Kealakehe squad, the Wildcats girls were in a seesaw battle for their team title.

 Kona using their two big guns in Ua Ruedy and Lia Galdeira were heavily relied upon to score the big points, but it was the few unexpected points that helped put them over the top in a close battle.

Wildcat Coach Kuulei Karratti-Saole had predicted the team’s victory the day before saying, “We should win by 10 to 15 points.”

The Kona coach knew her team well and relied upon Galdeira to score 50 points and Ruedy to add another 34 to keep a talented Hawaii Preparatory Academy team at bay during most of the day.

At one point, with just three events to go, HPA trailed the Wildcats by 14 points with the 3K, 200 dash and 4×400 relay left.

Four pivotal points were scored by Kona’s little known freshman, Shayli Nakamoto in the 3000 run with her fourth place finish.

“I just wanted to keep my team in first place,” Nakamoto said.  “I feel really important.”

Nakamoto’s contribution managed to keep the Wildcat lead and it was a surprise victory in the 200 that sealed the team win for Kona.

The 200 dash saw Galdeira get disqualified in a false start the day before and it became a surprise victory for teammate Ruedy that sealed the deal.

“I never thought I could win the 200,” Ruedy said.  “It is a big win for me and our team.”

“I think this is the first time Kona has won a BIIF team track title,” Karratti-Saole said.

Karratti-Saole is in her fourth year at the helm of the Wildcat track program.  She is also a former state champion in track winning the gold medal in the 100 back in 2003.

Kona edged out HPA for the girls team title by 11 points.

The upset of the day may have come in the girls 1500 run with Hilo’s Carmen Garson-Shumway taking on defending state champion, HPA’s Zoe Sims.

HPA, known for their talented distance runners, took a pack of four runners immediately to the lead.

“I didn’t want to get boxed in so I moved out with 300 to go,” Garson-Shumway said.

It became an all out sprint to the finish with Sims and teammate Kristiana Van Pernis staying on the heels of Garson-Shumway.

All three girls crossed the finish line under the meet record, with Garson-Shumway winning in 4:53.36, Sims 4:54.63, and Van Pernis 4:55.23.

“I didn’t expect to win,” Garson-Shumway said.  “We are all friends and this is not about winning, it’s about the experience.”

Garson-Shumway was quick to give credit to her teammate, freshman Mehana Sabado-Halpern for helping to push her during practice.

“Mehana helps to push me and she is a real nice running partner,” Garson-Shumway said.

Sims later returned to the oval to redeem the situation in the 800 winning in a meet record time of 2:18.46 to edge out Garson-Shumway, 2:20.02.

The girl’s pole vault title went to HPA senior Sydney Budde at 8-6 with Kealakehe sophomore Kristi Lovell finish second.

The senior, who has vaulted all four years, was excited about her first BIIF title.

“That’s insane that I made it this far,” Budde said.  “I’ve been second in my previous three years.”

Keaau will play host to the Hawaii High School Athletic Association track and field championships on Friday and Saturday, May 11 and 12.