'Iolani boys, Punahou girls tops in ILH
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Photo gallery: Prep Cross Country |
By Stanley Lee
Advertiser Staff Writer
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WAIPI'O — Running in their packs helped 'Iolani and Punahou to yesterday's Interscholastic League of Honolulu cross country team titles.
'Iolani placed five boys in the top 10 to win the boys title with 32 points, while Punahou placed six girls in the top 16 to win with 49 points.
Hawai'i Baptist senior Matthew Nakamoto won the individual title for the second straight year, finishing the 3-mile course at Patsy T. Mink Central O'ahu Regional Park in 16:45.95. Pac-Five senior Haley Abing, who attends La Pietra, repeated as the girls winner with a 3-mile time of 19:46.12.
"We practice running in a really tight group," said 'Iolani's Tyler Mulloy, a senior captain. "We all wanted this."
Nakamoto built a lead from the beginning, but 'Iolani's pack settled right behind. There were five 'Iolani runners trailing Nakamoto through the first mile. Runners from Kamehameha and Punahou started to break up the pack at the second mile, but 'Iolani still remained solid down the stretch.
Freshman Troy Esaki finished second in 17:31.28, with Raider teammates Mulloy third in 17:38.18, Borys Pleskacz eighth in 17:53.30, Justin Higa ninth in 18:03.18 and Andrew Ellison 10th in 18:12.54.
"We just had to get it done as a team," Esaki said.
Meanwhile, in the four races he's won this season, Nakamoto has done so with comfortable margins and with his own strategy.
"I give myself a time I want to hit," he said. "Instead of going all out, I try to hit a target for each mile time."
The girls race started with a pack of six runners through the first mile, before Pac-Five's Abing and Julie Besenbruch, the 2006 state champion, separated themselves. Abing slowly pulled away and won, while Besenbruch was second in 19:53.19.
"We were pushing each other," Abing said. "That's how we practice and that's how we run."
Punahou's second through sixth runners were running together through one part of the race and that pack aspect helped the Buffanblu, the three-time state champion, come out on top.
"We've been using each other, trying to stay in a pack as much as we can," said Punahou sophomore Julia Brand, who finished fifth in 20:38.87.
"We encourage each other when someone falls behind. We work as a team and work together. That's what cross country is all about, having everyone come in as fast as they can."
Punahou's Kyleigh Mann finished eighth in 20:51.12, followed by teammates Farrah Madanay (10th, 21:03.59), Brooke Laporte (11th, 21:05.42), Courtney Choy (15th, 21:28.23), and Kacie Won (16th, 21:30.34).
Pac-Five finished second with 60 points and Kamehameha, which has had strong showings all season, was third with 64.
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| CROSS COUNTRY RESULTS
Interscholastic League of Honolulu Championships Yesterday At Central O'ahu Regional Park. 3 miles.
Boys Team 1, 'Iolani 32. 2, Kamehameha 40. 3, Punahou 78. 4, Hawai'i Baptist 110. 5, Mid-Pacific 125. 6, Pac-Five 148. 7, Lanakila Baptist 214. Individual 1, Matthew Nakamoto (HBA) 16:45.95. 2, Troy Esaki ('Iol) 17:31.28. 3, Tyler Mulloy ('Iol) 17:38.18. 4, Jordan Thibodeau (KS) 17:41.92. 5, Reyn Fernandez (Pun) 17:45.62. 6, Zachary Sainz (KS) 17:47.74. 7, Jordan Kahawai (KS) 17:48.62. 8, Borys Pleskacz ('Iol) 17:53.30. 9, Justin Higa ('Iol) 18:03.18. 10, Andrew Ellison ('Iol) 18:12.54. 11, Isaiah Sato (KS) 18:21.30. 12, David Lee (KS) 18:22.99. 13, Tim Hogan (PF) 18:28.09. 14, Ryan Hobson (MPI) 18:29.75. 15, Maika Nagata (Pun) 18:30.96. 16, Grant Kaiama (KS) 18:36.40. 17, Scott Motobu (MPI) 18:37.40. 18, Brad Furuya (Pun) 18:39.10. 19, Eli Cusick (Pun) 18:40.96. 20, Glenn Akiona (KS) 18:43.51.
Girls Team 1, Punahou 49. 2, Pac-Five 60. 3, Kamehameha 64. 4, Hawai'i Baptist 98. 5, 'Iolani 103. 6, St. Andrew's 172. 7, Sacred Hearts 181. 8, Christian Academy 242. Individual 1, Haley Abing (PF) 19:46.12. 2, Julie Besenbruch (PF) 19:53.19. 3, Ashlee Jimenez (KS) 20:15.19. 4, Noelani Mikami (KS) 20:33.77. 5, Julia Brand (Pun) 20:38.87. 6, Jenna Wong ('Iol) 20:50.07. 7, Amanda Tamanaha (SA) 20:50.63. 8, Kyleigh Mann (Pun) 20:51.12. 9, Claire Hann (PF) 20:56.24. 10, Farrah Madanay (Pun) 21:03.59. 11, Brooke Laporte (Pun) 21:05.42. 12, Chaylene Guinto (PF) 21:14.27. 13, Leyna Jean Esaki ('Iol) 21:18.68. 14, Tia Nakashima (HBA) 21:21.32. 15, Courtney Choy (Pun) 21:28.23. 16, Kacie Won (Pun) 21:30.34. 17, Chelsea Chan (HBA) 21:32.43. 18, Aja-Lee Rosehill (KS) 21:33.73. 19, Cheyane Kamai (KS) 21:37.21. 20, Kelly Pedal (KS) 22:02.54.
O'ahu Interscholastic Association Championships Yesterday At Central O'ahu Regional Park. 3 miles.
Boys Team 1, Leilehua 44. 2, 'Aiea 112. 3, Castle 128. 4, Radford 129. 5, Campbell 148. 6, Pearl City 154. 7, Roosevelt 174. 8, Kapolei 213. 9, McKinley 228. 10, Mililani 243. 11, Moanalua 250. 12, Kalani 318. 13, Waipahu 351. 14, Kalaheo 362. 15, Wai'anae 377. 16, Farrington 410. 17, Kaimuki 445. Individual 1, Bryce Jenkins (Lei) 16:37.65. 2, Margarito Martinez (Lei) 16:58.92. 3, Christian Putegnat (Camp) 17:35.81. 4, Danny Lawrence ('Aiea) 17:52.27. 5, Brandon Mageary (Rad) 17:54.28. 6, Shannon Cosey (Lei) 17:54.67. 7, Eric Pak (Cast) 17:56.17. 8, William Wren (Kap) 17:58.47. 9, Craig Kandler (Kais) 17:58.77. 10, Daniel Gomez (Camp) 18:04.30. 11, Tomoyuki Miura (Roos) 18:21.19. 12, Noel Cabato (Lei) 18:22.37. 13, Clin Honeker ('Aiea) 18:25.67. 14, Kai Yoshioka (Roos) 18:27.54. 15, Elmer Arceo (Waip) 18:31.86. 16, Dylan Lee (Cast) 18:33.97. 17, Ezra Kamoe ('Aiea) 18:38.38. 18, David Obatake (PC) 18:42.96. 19, Brysen Calkins (Cast) 18:47.53. 20, Joseph Dunham (Moan) 18:50.72.
Girls Team 1, Mililani 37. 2, Leilehua 65. 3, Radford 91. 4, Roosevelt 149. 5, Waipahu 151. 6, Kapolei 184. 7, Pearl City 187. 8, Campbell 227. 9, McKinley 227. 10, Kalani 233. 11, Moanalua 255. 12, Kaimuki 327. 13, 'Aiea 331. Individual 1, Kristin Ali Keith (Mili) 19:33.15. 2, Sarah Clapp (Kais) 19:38.06. 3, Nicole Painter (Mili) 20:40.91. 4, Gabriella Jenkins (Mili) 20:43.89. 5, Deylynn White (Kap) 20:49.48. 6, Kayleigh Waters (Lei) 20:50.93. 7, Marima Lane (Lei) 20:54.78. 8, Savannah Lowrie (Lei) 21:17.49. 9, Dayna Domingo (PC) 21:26.46. 10, Rocio Sanchez (Kap) 21:27.05. 11, Sophie Curatilo (Moan) 21:30.82. 12, Taylor Black (Rad) 21:31.06. 13, Jessica Kafer (Rad) 21:31.56. 14, Arielle Uejo (Mili) 21:35.23. 15, Keri Fujiwara (Waip) 21:35.48. 16, Charlene Valeriano (Camp) 21:40.41. 17, Carley Kennedy (Rad) 21:40.93. 18, Nicole Kahunahana (PC) 21:40.60. 19, Darian Auna (Kahu) 21:45.81. 20, Tayler Sinn (Mili) 21:50.81.. |
Reach Stanley Lee at sktlee@honoluluadvertiser.com.
