BIIF Track Honors Island’s Best

   The Big Island Interscholastic Federation recently released its 2009 Track & Field All-Star list naming Kau’s Jacob Edwards and Hawaii Prep’s Ku’uipo Nakoa Male/Female Athlete of the Year.

   Edwards, a slender six foot junior, won individual honors during the BIIF championships in the triple jump, 110 and 300 hurdles, and placed second in the long jump and fourth in the 200 meter dash to single-handedly score a whopping 42 points.

  Nakoa won the 200 meter dash, long and triple jumps and placed second in the 100 dash to amass 38 individual points and went on to help HPA finish first in the 1600 relay and second in the 400 relay.

   At the HHSAA track and field championships held in Keaau Edwards claimed titles in both the 110 and 300 hurdles while Nakoa won the state gold medal in the long jump.

   Also coming away with double wins in the BIIF championship were HPA’s Noelani Vargas who swept the 1500 meter run and later returned to win the 800.

   Waiakea’s Ka’imi Scott won the BIIF 400 dash and then captured the 200 dash to make it a double gold day for the Warrior junior.  

   A trio of freshman became BIIF champions as Keaau’s Randi Estrada won the girls 400 dash, then went on to the state championships to claim a third place medal.  Hilo’s Shina Chung claimed a BIIF title in pole vault and HPA’s Shane Brostek won the league title for the shot.

   Surprises came when Honokaa’s Tialana Greenwell could only muster a second place finish at the BIIF 3000 meter run, but turned things around by running her best at the state championships to win a second place medal and clock an incredible time of 10 minutes 48 seconds.

   In the boy’s hurdles no one in the state could catch the “King,” Jacob Edwards, but Hilo’s TJ Dela Cruz was not only the second best in the BIIF, for both the 110 and 300, he was also second best in the state.

   And when it came to the 300 hurdles it was the BIIF’s fifth seed, Keaau’s Broc Bangloy, and third seed, Hilo’s Cameron Calistro going fourth and fifth in the state respectively to give the BIIF boy’s four out of the state’s top five medals.

   Yet, another surprise, came from BIIF runner-up Jordan Lerma from Kamehameha who went onto break the 2 minute barrier in the 800 at the state meet to collect a third place medal with Keaau’s Daniel Brooks, the BIIF fourth seed, winning fifth at state.

   HPA’s Mindy Campbell finished the BIIF championships as the runner-up in the high jump to Waiakea’s Cassie Morigaki, but at the state championships Campbell leaped her personal best 5-04 to win the state title, while Morigaki claimed fifth.

   The BIIF All-Star team is based upon the athletes placing in a particular event during the BIIF championships.  Athletes who placed first were selected to the first team, those that placed second were second team selections and those that placed in any of the scoring positions, from third to sixth, were given an honorable mention.

   Hilo High won the boys BIIF team title by more than 60 points in a runaway victory for Coach Bill McMahon.  McMahon has accumulated the most team titles of an  active BIIF track & field  coach, winning his 18^th team title (boys and girls combined) over an illustrious 19 years with the Vikings.

   McMahon was selected by league coaches as the Coach of the Year a title he has won on numerous occasions.  “I don’t count those things,” McMahon said of winning Coach of the Year.  “What I count are the former athletes that I see on the street that bother to approach me and say “thanks coach”.

   “Alex Kane, Clarence Andrade and Norb Keolanue all gave me the same advice,” McMahon said, “surround yourself with good people.”

   Kamehameha girls came away with a narrow four point victory over HPA to claim the BIIF team title and for their efforts the entire Warrior coaching staff was named Coach of the Year.

   Kamehameha Schools coach, Troy Souza, was elated with his team’s success and in the sharing of the Coach of the Year award with the rest of his staff.

   “It is an honor to have our coaching staff named Coach of the Year,” Souza said.  “This is something that couldn’t be done without the effort and success of our students.”

   For the private school Warriors it was a season filled with emotion and hard work.  “As a school we had so many school records broken this year which goes to show how hard these students worked,” Coach Souza said.

   BIIF track & field coaches voted for boy’s and girl’s coach of the year and the results were released by the leagues “Games Committee.”

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BIIF Runners Set to Leave Mark at HHSAA Championships

Kau’s Jacob Edwards leads the state in 110 & 300 hurdles

      Runners, jumpers and throwers from around the state are flocking to the Big Island for the Hawaii High School Athletic Association track & field championships to be held at Keaau on Friday and Saturday.

    The Punahou boys and Kamehameha-Oahu girls are the defending state champions and are loaded with talent in what should be a well contested meet in Keaau.

   Several Big Island Interscholastic Federation athletes will be in the mix to compete for individual state titles.

    Leading the way is Hawaii Preparatory Academy’s Ku’uipo Nakoa who is the BIIF Female Track and Field Athlete of the Year.

    Nakoa is ranked No.1 in the state long jump with a leap of 17 feet 9 inches, more than seven inches further than any other girl in the state has jumped.

   The Ka Makani junior is also ranked third in the triple jump, 36’ 10.25”, third in the 400 meter dash, 59.57 seconds, third in the 200 dash, 26.03 seconds and third in the 100 dash with a hand time of 12.5 seconds.

   “I think my best chance of winning a gold medal would be in the long jump, but who knows,” Nakoa said.  “We’ll all be pushing each other and we’ll all have our adrenaline pumping, so anything can happen.”

   “I’d really, really like to win the 100 and I’d like to do my best in that event as well,” Nakoa said.

   Hilo’s Cory Schattuaer, the BIIF champion in the 100 dash, is ranked second in that event, 12.70, behind state leader Punahou’s Ashley Satterwhite of Punahou who has clocked 12.53.

   A pair of BIIF girls is ranked in the 300 hurdles, with Kamehameha-Hawaii’s Aubrey Lea Shaw listed as third, 47.61, and HPA’s Kini Shuping, who won the BIIF title, fourth at 47.48.  Shuping is also fourth in the state in the triple jump with a leap of 35-05.5.

   The BIIF champions, Kamehameha girls, 4×100 team of Heidi Hall, Lilinoe Heaukulani, Bronte Kaneakua and Jessica Marote ranks fourth in the state at 51.08 seconds while the HPA girls 4×400 team of Nakoa, Shuping, Hana Scully and Noelani Vargas is ranked fifth at 4:13.61.

   Adding to the list of top BIIF girls are HPA’s Mindy Campbell and Waiakea’s Cassie Morigaki who are in a four way tie for high jump clearing five feet two inches early in the season.  Radford’s Kaeli Patton sits in first place at 5-4.

  “We are hobbling through some injuries, as Mindy, who jumped 5-2 in the first three meets sat out the last three weeks prior to the BIIF championships because of a foot injury,” HPA coach, Pat Lau said.

   “Ku’uipo (Nakoa) has been experiencing some pain somewhere, but she won’t tell me, it might be in her thigh or hip, but that won’t stop her from running at states,” Lau said. 

   HPA is taking ten girls to Keaau for the state championships and they are listed in 19 events and the two relays, which has Lau hopeful that his girls can advance into 14 events and two relays in the finals, on Saturday.

     “Our goal is to be in the top five.  If the gods are on our side and the planets are lined up right we could score 85 points, but realistically 48 to 55 points is a more real number,” Lau said. 

    “The way the different girl teams look 65 points will win it.  There are no dominating teams.  Punahou and Radford have the sprinters, Maui has a great middle and distance running, and Kahuku is good in field events,” Lau said.

    For the boys it is the BIIF’s most outstanding male athlete, Kau’s Jacob Edwards, has the best chance at bringing home two or three state individual titles.

1. The Trojan is also ranked fourth in the triple jump with his hop-skip-and jump of 45-06.5.

   “I like my chances in the 300 hurdles as there is more room for adjustment during the race,” Edwards said.  “I need to keep my head up, but I don’t want to put the cart before the horse and I must remain humble.”

    Edwards placed second in the state last year in both the 110 and 300 hurdles and was sixth in the triple jump.

   Close behind Edwards is a talented Thomas Delacruz of Hilo who ranks third in the state for the 110 at 14.97 and second in the 300 at 40.05.

   Hilo also brings to the track some of the best sprinters in the state with Charles Clay, No. 3, in the 100 dash at 11.09 and No. 3 in the 200 at 22.51.

   Teammate Bronson Kahaleua follows Clay in the 200 with the fourth fastest time in the state, 22.53, with Waiakea’s Ka’imi Scott fifth at 22.66.

   The Viking boys 4×100 relay team of Chan Spikes, Kahaleua, Clay and Karl Ancheta is ranked fourth in the state at 43.17 seconds.

   Konawaena’s Dakota Smith holds down the No. 2 state position in the 800 meter run, 1:59.81, with Kamehameha-Hawaii’s Jordan Lerma at No. 3, 2:00.15.  King Kekaulike’s Reid Hunter brings the fastest time in the 800 clocking 1:58.61 earlier in the season.

   In pole vault it is Hilo’s David King bringing his early season clearance of 15 feet as the No. 1 height in the state.  King has been hampered with some nagging injuries and was only able to clear 13 feet during the BIIF championships.  Teammate and defending BIIF champion in the pole vault, Scott Hunter, cleared 13-6 to win the event.

   Kamehameha’s Caleb Friel is ranked No. 3 in pole vault with his early season height of 14 feet.

   The Vikings should also score points in the shot with Jordan Loeffler ranked No. 5 at 52-05.5 toss.

   “Our boys and girls are just hoping to make second day appearances in all events,” Kamehameha-Hawaii coach, Troy Souza said.  “Our girls have a better shot at getting points and whatever points we get will be greatly welcomed.”

   The Warrior girls won the BIIF team title last week at Keaau and are hoping to carry their success into this week’s championship.  “The girls are really motivated and trying to carry any momentum into this week state track meet,” Souza said.

   The HHSAA track and field state championship begins this Friday at Keaau with the qualifying heats for each event.  On Saturday the championships conclude with event finals.

   General admission tickets are $7, students in grades K-12 are $5; students, and Senior Citizens are $5.  No outside food will be allowed within the stadium, no coolers, no tenting anywhere in the stands and parking will not be permitted at Keaau’s upper gym parking lot, that area is reserved for officials and workers, according to Keaau athletic director, Iris McGuire.

Kam girls, Hilo boys win BIIF Track Championships

   The Kamehameha girls and Hilo boys scored big to win the Big Island Interscholastic Federation track & field team championships held in Keaau on Saturday.

     Kamehameha upset defending girl’s champion, Hawaii Preparatory Academy, to win the girls team title by four points, 142 to 138, in what was a nail biting battle all the way to the final event.

    The Warriors managed to score points in all 16 events in a well balanced attack with senior Aubrey Lea Shaw, Cheray Brzezowski, Jessica Marote and Heidi Hall leading the charge.

   “It’s all good,” Kamehameha coach, Troy Souza said of his team’s victory.  “Nothing was going to stop these girls.  They threw everything out and held nothing back.  We were strong in the throws, the hurdles, and the horizontal jumps.”

    Souza’s Warriors came out running hard from the very first event, the 100 meter hurdles, with Shaw and Brzezowski going one-two respectively.

     Later it was the Warrior 4×100 relay team upsetting a good HPA team and setting a new stadium record in a blistering time of 51.08 seconds.

     “My team gave me a great lead,” Warrior anchor Jessica Marote said.  “I was nervous when I took the baton and I just wanted to run as hard as I could and not let my teammates down.”

     “Everybody did what they were supposed to do and they all stepped up today.  I ran the numbers last night and on paper I had us beating HPA.  I wasn’t able to sleep last night as I kept thinking about what we needed to do to pull this out,” Coach Souza said.

    It was an evening of upsets on the track as the girls 1500 saw the favorite, Honokaa’s Tialana Greenwell, outkicked in the final 120 meters by HPA’s Noelani Vargas.

    Greenwell and teammate Athena Oldfather went out quickly and separated themselves from the pack during the first 300 meters of the race.  Vargas, an experienced senior waited until the bell lap to make her move.

    “I was put into that race to get a third place finish and score some points for our team,” Vargas said.  “I knew the Honokaa girls were fast starters so I was okay with staying in the second pack.”

    But with just 300 meters to go Vargas decided to start her kick and began to make up the distance between the leaders.  “When I got to the final turn I just decided to go for it.  I don’t know where that came from,” she said.

   Vargas moment of inspiration was the deciding factor as Ka Makani motored down the straightaway to victory.

    Later Vargas stepped back onto the track for the 800 meters and won in the same fashion, passing Waiakea’s Kaitlyn Chock in the final 100 meters to win the event.

    HPA’s Ku’uipo Nakoa led the way for the Ka Makani by winning the 200 meter dash and the long and triple jumps, while taking second in the 100 to be selected as the meet MVP.

   Nakoa also helped the Ka Makani to a second place finish in the 400 relay and first place finish in the 1600 meter relay.

    “I had a solid long jump and my 200 was pretty good,” Nakoa said.  “In the triple jump I hurt my knee after my first jump and I wasn’t able to get any farther, but I was satisfied,”

   Nakoa, who had the fastest time in the BIIF in the 400 meter dash and is the third fastest in the state at 59.74 seconds going into the weekend, dropped out of that event in order to stay within the track and field rules which allow an athlete to compete in a maximum six events on the day.

HPA's Ku'uipo Nakoa was selected BIIF Track Athlete of the Year

   The Warrior girls had an impressive showing from their throwers, Kaopuanani Sutton and Brianna Vargas-Hafoka made headway in the discus and shot by scoring big for Kamehameha.

   For the boys it was Hilo winning yet another team title.  The Vikings got great balance and a team effort from sprinters Charles Clay, Chan Spikes and Bronson Kahaleau while hurdler Thomas Delacruz challenged Kau’s Jacob Edwards in both the 110 and 300 meter events.

   Veteran Viking coach, Bill McMahon, is the most prolific active BIIF track and field coach and by clinching another title brings his total team count, for both boys and girls titles, to 18.

   McMahon has been coaching at Hilo for the past 19 years and was quick to hand out praise to his team for the Viking success.

     “We had a very strong effort from our sprinters, distance runners, throwers and pole vaulters,” McMahon said

     “I think our 4×100 relay team overachieved and they set a stadium record and should be ranked second in the state,” he said.

    The relay team made up of Spikes, Clay, Kahaleua and Karl Ancheta won in 43.17 seconds and was just the tip of the Viking success as the team rolled up a 64 point victory over number two Keaau.

   Spikes and Clay had earlier in the day led Hilo to a one-two winning punch in the 100 meter dash and finished two and three respectively in the 200 dash later in the evening.

    “We were hoping to go 1,2,3 in the 100 and 200 with Bronson (Kahaleua) being in there with us,” Spikes said.  “We all worked hard together during practice and we always try to push each other to get faster.”

     “I joined track last year to get faster and condition for football and this year I asked Chan (Spikes) to join too,” Clay said.  Spikes plays quarterback and Clay wider receiver for the Vikings

    “I’m excited, but more nervous for our team,” McMahon said.  “It seems that the older I get the more nervous I feel for each of these kids.  This is a wonderful, fantastic group of kids and I’m very proud of their effort.”

   Kau’s Jacob Edwards was selected as the meets MVP with his wins in the 110 and 300 meter hurdles and the triple jump, while finishing second in the long jump.