Halford in prime time

By WAYNE JOSEPH

Tribune-Herald correspondent

WAIMEA — Bright pink racing shoes were easy to see from anywhere on the track, but it was the altitude that played the biggest role for Waiakea distance runner Jackson Halford as he ran the 3,000 at the Stan Shutes Track at Hawaii Preparatory Academy on Saturday.

Halford, participating in the final Big Island Interscholastic Federation meet before running in the BIIF Qualifiers on Friday, was content with his 3K performance.

“I’m okay with my time today,” said Halford, who ran 9:25. “After all it is HPA and it’s hard to know where I’m really at because of the altitude.”

Halford, with his bright pink pair of racing flats, made it look easy as he weaved his way around the oval, lapping slower runners in the process.

Halford, a master at distance racing, showed his strength in the 1,500, finishing in 4:17 — which brought a smile to his face.

“Anytime I can go under 4:19 I’m happy,” Halford said. “The 1,500 may be my best event and I will run it, along with the 800 and 3000 in BIIFs.”

On the other side of the ledger, teammate Kelsie Kobayashi did a repeat performance of her male counterpart by winning the 3K.

“My mind wasn’t into racing for most of the season,” Kobayashi said. “Today I finally put it all together as my heart was in it and I wasn’t worried about who was in this race.”

Kobayashi ran the 7 1/2-lap race, distancing herself from the rest of the field with every lap.

“I was hitting my splits today and getting my self-confidence back,” Kobayashi said. “This is my favorite race and I still believe I can improve on my time.”

Kobayashi’s time of 11 minutes, 26 seconds was the best of her four years running varsity track at Waiakea.

“I paced myself properly and focused on my time, not my competition,” she said. “I’ve never run this fast and believe I am peaking at the right time.”

The defending state champion in the girls 1,500, HPA’s Zoe Sims had a real battle as she went against Hilo’s Carmen Garson-Shumway.

“Carmen and I are track friends and I respect her a lot for her running ability.” Sims said.

During the 1,500, the two girls exchanged the lead several times and the race was never decided until the final meter with Sims leaning across the finish line first.

Sims was also on the track for the 800 in which she won in a time of 2:23.

“My 800 time was okay, the race felt good and it was fun to run,” Sims said. “I like running the 800 and today I managed to hit my split times.”

For the boys, it was Kealakehe’s Luca Walter tearing up the track in both the 800 and 400 races.

“I reached one of my goals today when I went under 2 minutes for the 800,” Walter said.

Walter, who will be a walk on at Western Oregon, wanted to get his 800 time under 2 minutes.

“I needed to get it under 2 in order to have the college coaches take a better look at me when I walk on,” he said. “Now, I need to get my 400 time under 50 seconds.”

“Today, I focused on the 800 and next week the focus will be in the 400,” Walter said.

Walter was also the anchor leg in the 4×400 relay and helped lead the Waveriders to victory in 3:32.

The heavyweight of field events, double state defending champion in the shot and discus throws, HPA’s Shane Brostek, was having a sub-Brostek performance.

“I was off today and wasn’t happy with my throws in both events,” Brostek said. “I like winning, but for me it’s more about improving that makes the difference.”

Brostek threw the shot 56 feet two weeks ago, which makes him the state leader, but Saturday’s throw didn’t make the humble giant very happy.

“I worked really hard during the week lifting and practicing, so I wasn’t very happy with what I did today,” Brostek said.

While Brostek was throwing far away from the track, on the infield was Keaau’s Cliff Eriksson, the BIIF leader in the boys high jump.

Eriksson entered the competition at 5-8 and leaped his way up and over the cross bar, clearing a personal best height of 6-02 before failing to clear at 6-03, but it was his earlier victory in the 110 hurdles that he was most pleased with.

“I’m really happy with my 110 performance,” he said. “This is the first time that I’ve won the 110.”

Eriksson complained of sore legs during the week and his mini-break seemed to have revived his body.

“It was a hard practice week for me, but today I felt really good,” he said. “The high jump is my favorite and best event.”

Eriksson also finished second in the 300 hurdles and second in the 4×400 relay.

Coming up on Friday is the BIIF Qualifiers to be held at Keaau starting at 2 p.m. The qualifiers will narrow the field down to the top 8 runners in each event and will lead into the BIIF individual and team championships on Saturday at Cougar Stadium.

Keaau track has also been selected the site of the State Track & Field Championships on May 11-12.