Canefire Conditioner a tradional fun race for pairs

KEAAU – The Big Island Interscholastic Federation opened its season with a traditional Canefire Conditioner, on the campus of Christian Liberty Academy.

It doesn’t happen to be your usual 3 mile cross country race because harriers are paired up with a teammate and there are special rules for team scoring.

“I ran a conditioner at Taylor University (Indiana).  It too was a preseason race,” CLA Coach Frank Grotenhuis said.

The objective is to allow everyone to run with a partner doing a relay format so that each runs a total of 3 miles (the total distance in a BIIF race, but with taking a 1 mile interval beak in between.

Hilo’s 1st and 2nd place teams.

“I think that the kids like it because they have a rest between each mile and they can get away with not being in 3 mile shape,” Grotenhuis said.  “Coaches have liked the fact that it’s a low key event, they get to see where their kids are at, and they can see some of their runners win awards.”

 “Our goal has been to make it a fun event for the schools and give them a chance to get out to Keaau and see our campus,” Grotenhuis said.  “It is always an eye opener for our school to see how popular cross country is!”

The Canefire conditioner gives 3 team trophies and 15 pairs of medals per race, according to Grotenhuis.

This year’s winner pair were both for Hilo in Stephen Hunter and Timon Skinner for the boys and Mahana Sabado-Halpern and Nina Bean for the girls.

Viking Coach Lory Hunter divided her girl pairs so that their number 1 runner would be paired with their number 4 runner and their #2 would be paired with #3.

“We wanted the team pair to push each other,” Coach Hunter said.

And Hilo strategy paid off as their two teams battled for first place and finished one-two with Carmen Garson-Shumway and Kaylee Rapoza finishing within  three minutes of each other.

#2 boys team Honokaa & #1 Hilo

“This is an exciting run and this is my favorite race,” Garson-Shumway said.

Bean echoed her teammate statement, “we pushed them to run hard and we paced them to make it fun” she said.

The Hilo pairs were clocked at their mile splits in the 6:52 range with the final mile reaching a speedy 6:02.

The third pair crossing the finish line was TeHani Jones and Tiana Iwata from Kamehameha.

Each coach came with their own strategy.

Michael Franklin head coach for Hawaii Prep Academy girl’s team said he has been doing the same thing for the past 5 years. He didn’t want to pull any surprises on anybody and the whole thing about his team strategy is to try to train them to run as a pack.

HPA lost to Hilo in team scoring by one point. But that didn’t change Franklin’s opinion of his strategy to train them to run as a group.

Coach Jordon Rosado of Waiakea said he likes the format at CLA because it affords his team to rest between miles and he wants to see what it is like when you put all these miles together during the week.

“It’s a great fun way to keep kids motivated to want to run and the CLA coach does a fantastic job putting this event together,” Rosado said.

Coach Joel Truesdell of Kamehameha’s team has done the Canefire conditioner for all seven years.

“It’s a great way to kick off the season, the kids love it. We don’t really train for the race.

Frank Grotenhuis is a great host and it’s his way of showing aloha,” Truesdell said.

On the boy’s side, was another pair of Hilo boys in Stephen Hunter and Timon Skinner taking first place.

“We were running in second place until our final baton pass in which we took over the lead,” Hunter said.

The Honokaa Dragon’s had a ten second lead on Hunter but the young Viking made up the time in a thrilling eleven second turn around.

Hunter had to pass the Dragons in the final baton pass to make it a clean sweep for the Vikings, but Honokaa still pulled out a team title.

Another pair of Vikings in Isreal Sim and Max Panoff came in third place within a minute of the other Hilo team.

Fourth place went to the pair of Paul Gregg and Tyler McCullough from Parker as the Bulls were separated by a mere minute and twelve seconds from first place.

But in the Conditioner format it takes your top four scoring teams to win the team title.

Despite the high temperature of a noon day boy’s race and no trade winds coming through the cane fields it still made for a great venue.

Grotenhuis keeps getting larger and larger participation, with 300 last year and a total of 328 runners this year.

CLA makes the awards possible through a series of fund raisers throughout the year, according to Grotenhuis.

A change in venue has BIIF cross country moving to the campus of HPA next Saturday Sept 1 starting at 10 a.m. instead of Kealakehe.

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BIIF Boys cross country All League Selections

Coach Abner

 

Halford

Correa Doll

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

			BOYS All-League
(based on finish at BIIF Championship on 22-Oct)
			1st Team
CHAMPION		Chayce Moniz	12	Honokaa
2nd place		Jackson Halford	12	Waiakea
3rd place		Andrew Lantry	11	St. Joseph’s
4th place		Shawn Correa Doll	12	Kamehameha
5th place		Paul Gregg	11	Parker
6th place		Ian Mcquate	10	Waiakea
7th place		Brandt Mabuni	12	Makua Lani
			2nd Team
8th place		Tony Connors	10	Honokaa
9th place		Robert Connors	12	Honokaa
10th place		Luca Walter	12	Kealakehe
11th place		Stephen Hunter	10	Hilo
12th place		Max Panoff	10	Hilo
13th place		Alden Aguirre	12	Honokaa
14th place		Hajime Hiyano	10	Waiakea
Coach of the Year			JOSHUA ABNER
			Honokaa High School
			2011 BIIF Team Champions
			HONOKAA HIGH SCHOOL
HONORABLE MENTION
			BOYS
Christian Liberty			Caedan Cambra, Keenan Freitas
Hawaii Prep			Michael Spetich, Justin Macy, Hide Akai
Hilo			Max Kerr, Hyrum Kim
Honokaa			Clayton Robinson, PedroSanches,Seanry Agbayani
Kamehameha			Maka’ala Cruz, Colton Hill, Jordan Hirae
Ka’u			Jemy Ray Palancia, Cash Sheppard
Kea’au			Jhun Delle Ventura, Davin Alviento, Arman Navarro
Kealakehe			Scott Henderson, CJ, Agusen
Kohala			Josiah Adams, Domenic Defiesta
Makua Lani			Devin Vandervoort, Andrew Dong,Aidan Alcos
Pahoa			Kristian Abilla
Parker			Jesse Tarnas, Tyler McCullough
Waiakea			Dyson Sato, Keoni Rice, Robbey Meguro

 girls all league selections:  https://waynejoseph.wordpress.com/2011/11/05/biif-girls-cross-country-all-league-selections-hpas-franklin-coach-of-the-year/ 

BIIF Cross Country – Boys tops 50 results from Hawaii Prep

click to enlarge

  BIIF Cross Country Meet                                 September 3, 2011                                

                        Host:  Hawaii Preparatory Academy                        Event 1  Boys 3 Mile Run CC
        

    Name                    Year School                  Finals  Points         

1 Langtry, Andrew              St. Joseph’s          19:19.52                 

  2 Correa Doll, Shawn           Kamehameha            19:45.17    1            

  3 Halford, Jackson             Waiakea               20:01.50    2            

  4 Hunter, Stephen              Hilo                  20:05.39    3            

  5 Mcquate, Ian                 Waiakea               20:06.99    4            

  6 Mabuni, Brandt               Makua Lani            20:09.77    5            

  7 Gregg, Paul                  Parker School         20:18.25    6            

  8 Vandervoort, Devin           Makua Lani            20:24.60    7            

  9 Tarnas, Jesse                Parker School         20:30.38    8            

10 Walter, Luca                 Kealakehe             20:35.37    9            

11 McCullough, Tyler            Parker School         20:37.42   10            

12 Conners, Tony                Honokaa               20:38.79   11            

13 Kerr, Max                    Hilo                  20:43.98   12            

14 Macy, Justin                 Hawaii Prep           20:44.53   13            

15 Cruz, Makaala                Kamehameha            20:50.73   14            

16 Robinson, Clayton            Honokaa               20:53.58   15            

17 Rice, Keoni                  Waiakea               20:55.45   16            

18 Van Kirk, Tyler              Hawaii Prep           20:55.85   17            

19 Panoff, Max                  Hilo                  21:01.11   18            

20 Conners, Robert              Honokaa               21:02.38   19            

21 Rogerson, Michael            Hawaii Prep           21:04.00   20            

22 Skinner, Timon               Hilo                  21:08.48   21            

23 Spetich, Michael             Hawaii Prep           21:09.88   22            

24 Meguro, Robbey               Waiakea               21:24.98   23            

25 Burns, Jesse                 Parker School         21:28.32   24            

26 Knell, Jonah                 Kamehameha            21:37.66   25            

27 Gahan, Makaala               Kamehameha            21:38.59   26            

28 Aguirre, Alden               Honokaa               21:38.99   27            

29 DeRego, Teddy                Kamehameha            21:39.39   28            

30 Hiyano, Hajime               Waiakea               21:45.36   29            

31 Trump, Andrew                Kohala                21:46.48   30            

32 Disney, Walter               Hawaii Prep           21:46.94   31            

33 Ventura, Jhun Delle          Kea’au                21:47.70   32            

34 Carvalho, Cjay               Honokaa               21:48.15   33            

35 Henderson, Scott             Kealakehe             21:48.74   34            

36 Yoda, Ryuta                  Hawaii Prep           21:49.15   35            

37 Kim, Duk Hwan                Kea’au                21:50.38   36            

38 Ferrell, Jeffery             Kea’au                21:52.76   37            

39 Harbour, Jin                 Waiakea               21:53.45   38            

40 Camocho, Matthew             Waiakea               21:54.27   39            

41 Dong, Andrew                 Makua Lani            22:00.03   40            

42 Perez, Nathaniel             Waiakea               22:00.42                 

43 Kim, Hyrum                   Hilo                  22:03.96   41            

44 Hulse, Cooper                Kamehameha            22:04.96   42            

45 Hirae, Jordan                Kamehameha            22:08.72   43            

46 Marshall, Miles              Waiakea               22:13.14                 

47 Defiesta, Domenic            Kohala                22:16.85   44            

48 Police, Kepa                 Hawaii Prep           22:17.52   45            

49 Tada, Dallas                 Kamehameha            22:18.62

50 Guignard, Max                Kealakehe             22:19.52   46

Lady Ka Makani looking to continue BIIF Cross Country Dynasty

Lady harriers from Hawaii Prep

The Hawaii Prep girls cross country program doesn’t don Yankee pinstripes, it doesn’t channel Celtic pride and it’s never celebrated their victories with the Lambeau leap.  But in its own realm, Ka Makani wahine are every bit as dominant.

Since 1980 the ladies from Hawaii Preparatory Academy have dominated the Big Island Interscholastic Federation cross county winning league titles in 27 of the past 31 years, according to Ka Makani athletic director Stephen Perry.

The BIIF cross country season opens this Saturday with the HPA girls team coming in as heavy favorites to win yet another league championship.

Waiakea (1983 & 1991) and Kamehameha (2005 & 2007) were the only other schools to win BIIF girls team titles and HPA looks on track to continue their cross country dominance.

Ka Makani return four of the varsity seven from last year’s league champions with Zoe Sims, Emily Evans, Kristiana Van Pernis and Mariah Haight leading the way.

Head coach Michael Franklin returns at the helm, but down plays his team’s goal of winning another league title.

“Truly, people don’t believe me when I say this, but winning a championship is not one of our goals,” Franklin said.  “Our goals are simple as they come from the basic philosophy that life is more satisfying if one pushes him or herself beyond perceived limits.”

Franklin believes that his harriers need to focus on themselves and their team rather than on trying to win a league championship.

“Focusing on winning a championship would require too much attention on others,” he said.  “We really have a team focus.”

Ka Makani girls finished second in the state last season and this year is considered the team to challenge Punahou again for the Hawaii High School Athletic Association title.

“This is the strongest team that I have yet coached at HPA,” Franklin said.  “That does not mean that it is the fastest team.  It is the strongest because of its unified spirit and unanimous love for the running lifestyle.  Whether we win or lose races, this team’s attitude makes it exceptional.”

Gunning for the girl’s title will be the Warriors of Kamehameha as Coach Joel Truesdell return five of his top seven girls.

“This is the first time since we last won the BIIF championship that we return this many varsity starters,” Truesdell said.

Kamehameha returns three girls that were in the top 20 at the BIIF championships last season in Tiana Iwata (12^th), Corin Kim (16^th) and Erin Carvalho (20^th).

“We’ve got some depth on our girl’s squad as we have 8 girls running in the lead pack,” Truesdell said.  “Our goals are the same as last year, to get a full team into states.”

Also shooting to get a full team to qualify for the state championship is Hilo’s veteran coach, Bill McMahon.

“Our top two returning girls are Shalila De Bournmont and Carmen Garson-Shumway,” McMahon said.  “Our boy’s team are all young, but I do have a good sized group.”

Waiakea’s  fastest girl is Kelsie Kobayashi and she will be anchored by Haley Rasse, Vanessa Ignacio, Skye Ombac, and Vandey Okinaka, according to Coach Jordan Rosado.

“We have a large team, with 40 boys and 28 girls,” Rosado said.  “I feel we have as good a chance to compete for the boy’s team title as anyone else, since Honokaa lost some of their best runners to graduation.”

Waiakea will be led by Jackson Halford and Keoni Rice with Ian McQuate, Hajime Hiyano and Dyson Sato providing needed support according to Rosado.

Honokaa, returns as the four time defending league champion, but has some holes to fill from last season.

“Chayce Moniz, Clayton Robinson, Pedro Sanches, Robert Conners, Tony Conners, Riston Matias, Koa Phenice, Sean Quinlan, Justin Warren, and Mason Wilkes are our returners,” Coach Joshua Abner said.

Abner lost three of his seven starters from last year, including two time individual BIIF champion Chris Mosch, which leaves the door open for several teams to vie for the team title.

“Every day is an open tryout for us and every one of these boys are hungry,” Abner said.

Last season’s big surprise came from the boys at Parker School as Coach Ceri Whitfield qualified her team for the HHSAA.

“I feel with the hard work these boys put into their training they have as much chance as any of the other schools to come in first,” Whitfield said.  “They are very committed and positive about their chances this year as they work very hard.”

Leading the way for the Bulls is Jesse Tarnas who will brings a solid core of runners which includes Jesse Tarnas, Paul Gregg, Tyler McCullough, Jess Burns and Evan Kasberg.

Kamehameha boys coach, Ryan Cabalse, has four returnees that made it to the state championships last season in Shawn Correa-Doll, Kaulana Ho, Colton Hill, and Jonah Knell.

“Our boy’s squad has never qualified as a team for states yet, (five from the same team need to qualify to score as a team) but we are hoping to contend for one of the automatic team slots this season,” Cabalse said.

St. Joseph returns one of the best BIIF runners in Andrew Langtry who is expected to challenge for the individual league crown.  Langtry ran in various community races during the off season and was often seen in the top leader board.

Keaau brings 41 boys and 15 girls into competition with returnees Deann Nishimura-Thornton and Natalie Hagemann leading the girls while Jhun-Delle Venture, Davin Alviento, Greg Matias, Arman Navarro and Adrian Martinez headline the boy’s squad, according to Coach Donna Wong Yuen.

Though difficult, we always want to try and qualify a team for states,” Wong Yuen said.  “Our goals are to have fun and improve from last year.”

Christian Liberty Academy doesn’t have any girls on their cross country team but will bring 10 boys to the starting line, according to Coach Frank Grotenhuis.

“Caeden Cambra and Keenen Freitas are the two fastest on the team,” Grotenhuis said.  “We’re looking at having the boys push hard so that they can achieve their personal best.”

The BIIF harriers get off to a running start on Saturday with Grotenhuis as his CLA family playing host to the Canefire Conditioner starting at 10 am on the Keaau campus.