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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Advertisement

BIIF BOYS Champions top 50 – Conners wins

 BIIF Cross Country Championships
                                Hawaii Prep  October 19, 2012           

 Place TmPl No.  Name               Yr School                    Varsity_
===== ==== ==== ================== == ========================= ========
    1    1   52 TONY CONNORS       11 Honokaa                   18:27.10
    2    2  215 IAN MCQUATE        11 Waiakea                   18:35.70
    3    3  190 PAUL GREGG         12 Parker                    18:39.30
    4       200 ANDREW LANGTRY     12 St. Joseph’s              18:53.90
    5    4  159 JOSIAH ADAMS       10 Kohala                    18:58.25
    6    5   29 MICHAEL SPETICH    11 Hawaii Prep               18:58.95
    7    6  151 THUNDER FROST      10 Kealakehe                 19:03.15
    8    7   36 STEPHEN HUNTER     11 Hilo                      19:15.90
    9    8   22 JUSTIN MACY        12 Hawaii Prep               19:24.70
   10    9   44 TIMON SKINNER      11 Hilo                      19:25.10
   11   10  193 TYLER MCCULLOUGH   12 Parker                    19:40.85
   12   11   90 MAKA’ALA CRUZ      11 Kamehameha (hawaii)       19:41.20
   13   12   58 BROOKS MCVEY       12 Honokaa                   19:42.60
   14   13   16 WALTER DISNEY      11 Hawaii Prep               19:51.45
   15   14  112 DALLAS TADA        12 Kamehameha (hawaii)       19:53.45
   16   15  103 JONAH KNELL        12 Kamehameha (hawaii)       19:54.95
   17   16   47 ISAAC ANGELO       11 Honokaa                   19:55.65
   18   17   46 SEANRY AGBAYANI    11 Honokaa                   19:57.50
   19   18   96 COLTON HILL        11 Kamehameha (hawaii)       19:58.35
   20   19   97 KAIMIOLA HO        10 Kamehameha (hawaii)       19:58.95
   21   20  149 CJ AGUSEN          12 Kealakehe                 20:00.30
   22   21   61 SEAN PERALA        11 Honokaa                   20:03.80
   23   22  155 TYLER LA SALLE     11 Kealakehe                 20:08.15
   24   23   39 RICHARD KERR       12 Hilo                      20:12.05
   25   24  127 JEFFERY FERRELL    10 Kea’au                    20:21.15
   26   25  152 JEREMY GAMBING     11 Kealakehe                 20:22.85
   27   26   40 HYRUM KIM          10 Hilo                      20:23.15
   28   27  220 MARK PACRIS        10 Waiakea                   20:23.45
   29   28   20 NATHAN LADWIG      9  Hawaii Prep               20:27.15
   30   29  205 MATTHEW CAMACHO    11 Waiakea                   20:30.45
   31   30   63 DAVID ROBINSON     12 Honokaa                   20:31.30
   32   31   64 PEDRO SANCHES      12 Honokaa                   20:36.65
   33   32   95 MALU HAMMOND       12 Kamehameha (hawaii)       20:36.90
   34   33   94 KAWIKA FINLEY      12 Kamehameha (hawaii)       20:38.35
   35   34   13 HIDE AKAI          10 Hawaii Prep               20:46.20
   36        31 RYUTA YODA         12 Dq                        20:46.35
   37   35   21 JAKE LAI           11 Hawaii Prep               20:49.55
   38   36  158 GAVIN ULMAN        10 Kealakehe                 20:56.95
   39   37  169 JOSHUA KUPERUS     10 Makua Lani                21:01.15
   40   38  209 HAJIME HAYANO      11 Waiakea                   21:02.15
   41   39   33 RIVER BROWN        9  Hilo                      21:03.75
   42       198 LUKE POTTER        10 Dq                        21:04.05
   43   40  211 ALAN IKEHARA       11 Waiakea                   21:05.35
   44   41  191 EVAN KASBERG       12 Parker                    21:21.55
   45   42  123 AUSTIN ANDERSON    11 Kea’au                    21:27.10
   46   43   43 MAXIMILLIAN PANOFF 11 Hilo                      21:33.15
   47   44  122 DAVIN ALVIENTO     12 Kea’au                    21:48.35
   48   45    6 KEKOA MUNDO        11 Christian Liberty         21:49.85
   49   46  186 JESSE BURNS        12 Parker                    21:50.75
   50   47  154 SCOTT HENDERSON    11 Kealakehe                 21:51.05

Parker’s Gregg and HPA’s Sims top BIIF cross country leader board

Sims

WAIMEA – There is no place like home and in Big Island Interscholastic Federation cross country nothing could be closer to the truth than running in the rolling hills of Waimea

The BIIF continued their regular season cross country with an all schools meet on the campus of Hawaii Preparatory Academy with the Lady Ka Makani dominating in team scoring.

In the girls race the top BIIF finisher was Ka Makani Zoe Sims and for the boys the league’s top finisher was Parker’s Paul Gregg.

There were 7 off island schools that came over to run the state course, according to HPA Athletic Director Stephen Perry.

The schools making the trip were Baldwin (Maui), Campbell, Hawaii Baptists Academy, Iolani, Nanakuli, Pearl City and St. Louis so Perry decided to run 4 races which included 2 races for the open division.

“We had 17 girls’ teams and 21 boy’s teams,” Perry said.

The girl’s race saw a freshman from Kamehameha-Kapalama win the difficult 3 mile course, Hennessey Ellis in 20 minutes and 55 seconds.

“We came here to prepare for states,” Ellis said.  “The course is hard but coaches prepared us well for it and it was a good race today.”

Ellis took the final downhill lead from a pack of Ka Makani lead by the defending BIIF champ Zoe Sims.

“It was really good to have Oahu schools here today,” Sims said.  “She (Ellis) ran really well.  It was also good to run on our home course as it is nice to have the home crowd as it motivates us to run faster.

Finishing third behind Ellis and Sims was HPA Kristiana Van Pernis in what became a sea of red jerseys to leave little doubt about the team outcome.

“While I am where I want to be at this point of the season there is still room for improvement,” Van Pernis said.  It was great to be motivated by her (Ellis) and all the off island schools really motivated me, it was good to see new faces.”

HPA won the girls team title with 29 points followed by Kamehameha-Kapalama with 58 and Pearl City with 94 was in third.

For the girls open HPA continues their dynasty winning the open division with just 19 points with second place Kamehameha-Kapalama 36 and Christian Liberty with 95.

Coach Fred Losano of the Baldwin Bears from the Maui Interscholastic League just brought 3 boys over to HPA to challenge the course.

“I heard they changed the course and they made it more challenging,” he said.  “This is a strategic course especially during the full mile uphill because it’s run into the wind.”

The Bears also had a runner that was trying to win it all. 

For the boys it was David Clarke a senior from Iolani taking top honors in 18:20.

“This is my first time running on the HPA campus and it’s the toughest course I’d ever run,” Clarke said.  “I took the lead on the downhill section of the course around the 2.5 mile mark from James (Pearson) and was never seriously challenged after that.”

Pearson, from Baldwin, is one of the top contenders for the state title and he learned a lot from running on the course.

“I tried to challenge the course and I went out fast and had the lead for awhile until Iolani (Clarke) took over with about half a mile to go,” Pearson said.

While several off island schools were on top of the leader board it was Parker’s Paul Gregg leading the way for all BIIF runners.

“It was hot but it felt good,” Gregg said.  “I guess now the targets on my back?”

Gregg came in at 6^th place overall but likes where he is at during this part of the season.

“I felt fatigued and dizzy at the end, but I ran my race today,” Gregg said.  “I am still confident and I must be the league favorite on this course.”

In the boys team standing it was Iolani taking first with 52 points followed by Pearl City with 75, HBA 91 and HPA with 122.

Iolani Coach Jack Kuo brought 14 boys to the state preview championship course on Friday to get a run in before Saturdays meet.

“It is a tough course with strategic sections in different spots,” Kuo said.  “It is one of the toughest courses in the state and it’s hard to find this type of terrain to practice on.”

HPA girls Coach Michael Franklin in his seventh season ask about his girl’s success as the defending state champion.

“We try to have the girls be in the moment and pushing oneself beyond comfort,” Franklin said.  “When we speak of fun we mean true joy and freedom.”

The BIIF regular season is next at Kamehameha with an all school meet on Saturday beginning at 3 pm with two 3 mile varsity races on tap.

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.

Boys Results from the CaneFire Conditioner held on 25 August 2012

DTeam Results — Boys

Hilo Honoka’a Kamehameha Waiakea HPA
1 1 2 8 5 12
2 3 7 9 6 16
3 11 14 10 18 20
4 22 15 13 19 23

Total 37 38 40 48 71

Kea’au Parker CLA Hualalai
1 17 4 25 29
2 21 27 28 33
3 23 30 32 34
4 26 31 36 35

Total 87 92 121 131

Individual Results — Boys

Names School Time
1 Stephen Hunter; Timon Skinner Hilo 33:59:93
2 Tony Conners; Brooks McVey Honoka’a 34:10:22
3 Isreal Sim; Max Panoff Hilo 34:50:74
4 Paul Gregg; Tyler McCullough Parker 35:11:43
5 Ian McQuate; Tyler Honda WKA 35:31:45
6 Dyson Sato; Mark Pacris WKA 35:36:27
7 Pedro Sanches; Clayton Robinson Honoka’a 36:07:57
8 Maka’ala Cruz; Malu Hammond Kam 36:10:17
9 Dallas Tada; Dayson Alip Kam 36:13:48
10 Jonah Knell; Colton Hill Kam 36:16:91
11 Hyrum Kim; Richard (Lance) Kerr Hilo 36:40:93
12 Walter Disney; Michael Spetich HPA 36:42:21
13 Kaimiola Ho; David Finley Kam 36:42:59
14 Evan Ishihara; Andrew Langtry WKA/StJ 36:59:78
15 Sean Quinlan; Sean Perala Honoka’a 37:07:96