WAIMEA — Hilo senior Mehana Sabado-Halpern and Waiakea junior Louie Ondo could be cross country twins, if their backgrounds weren’t so different. ADVERTISING WAIMEA — Hilo senior Mehana Sabado-Halpern and Waiakea junior Louie Ondo could be cross country twins, if
WAIMEA — Hilo senior Mehana Sabado-Halpern and Waiakea junior Louie Ondo could be cross country twins, if their backgrounds weren’t so different.
Both covered Hawaii Prep’s three-mile course on Friday faster than anyone else to pick up their first Big Island Interscholastic Federation championships, finishing unbeaten in the league.
Under typical Waimea weather — windy with a cool breeze — Sabado-Halpern blitzed the field and clocked in at 21 minutes and 0.76 seconds.
“It feels exciting and I was really happy throughout the whole race,” she said. “I had a good mindset. I just wanted to go into my last race in BIIFs really positive, and the whole team was really happy and that was a good outcome.”
A race later, Ondo blazed to a 17:23.21, a solid time but one that left him a bit unfulfilled.
“It was all right. I was shooting for the record, 17:07. It was a fun run. I loved the competition,” he said. “There were many people I was afraid of, but I dug down, stayed in a zone and pushed myself.”
Kealakehe’s Ziggy Bartholomy (18:11.4) finished second behind Ondo, helping the Waveriders dethrone seven-time boys champion Honokaa. Led by runner-up Sabrina Disney (22.25.5), the Lady Ka Makani dominated again, claiming their seventh consecutive girls title and 37th in the past 41 years.
Sabado-Halpern and Ondo each went 7 of 7 in league races this season. From there, their roads take a different path.
She started cross country as a sophomore and was fourth at BIIFs that year, as well as last season. She was on the track and field team since she was a freshman. She’s also been on the Viking soccer team for three years.
Asked to pick a favorite sport, Sabado-Halpern turned into a politician. She said it’s a tie between cross country, and track and field.
Last season as a junior, Sabado-Halpern had the time of her life in track. The Vikings were second at the Hawaii High School Athletic Association state championships at Kamehameha-Kapalama’s campus.
“That’s what I’m most proud of when we placed second last year at states for track,” she said. “It was the best day and my emotions were a roller-coaster. That was the most fun, and the team was really happy.”
She was on the 4×400 meter relay team that seized second place, and the 4×100 that placed sixth. She earned silver in the triple jump and was eighth in the 300 hurdles (the top six get medals).
Sabado-Halpern has a 3.73 grade-point average and is looking to compete in track and field at a Division III school. She hasn’t picked out a profession yet, but she could be a diplomat — she’s got the required engaging smile.
Asked to pick her favorite track event, she pointed to the 400 meters and the triple jump.
“I like the intensity in the 400,” she said about a race she didn’t compete at BIIFs because she was in five events. “It’s a race you really have to get down and give it your all. The triple is three different parts. It’s about power, but more about form and technique. I’ve seen my most improvement in the triple.”
Ondo didn’t run cross country last year. He’s what you call an accidental champion.
He was on Waiakea’s junior varsity basketball team last season, and got in shape by running around the school’s track. Out of the blue, Ondo joined the track and field team, and was an instant success: He won BIIF titles in the 800 and 1,500 meters last year.
“I came over from Keaau when I was in the eighth grade and I was scared I wouldn’t make the cut for JV basketball,” said Ondo, who was on the Waiakea JV the last two seasons. “My dad (also named Louie) said if you want it you have to work for it. He bought me all kinds of equipment. I was out there running with a parachute and a bungee cord, and running miles for basketball.”
He started playing hoops in the fifth grade, and basketball was in his blood because his dad played ball at St. Joseph back in the day. But now Ondo really enjoys the different type of competition running offers.
“I’ve started to like running more,” he said. “I like the competition, and you can make your team better. I like cross country because you can break records and that’s what I shoot for.
“But I grew up with basketball. My dad has always been my idol. He played at St. Joe.”
Waveriders surge
By virtue of a pair of top-two team finishes, first-year Kealakehe coach Brad Lachance made good on his goal of qualifying seven boys and seven girls for the state cross country championships, which will be held next Saturday at Central Oahu Regional Park.
Kelii Dorn placed third in the girls race for the Waveriders, who finished far back in second behind Ka Makani (30 points from five runners), who once again showed off their incomparable depth.
HPA posted four runners in the the top 10 — Ada Benson, Tove Fostvedt and Savannah Cochran were Nos. 5-7 — and all seven were in the top 13.
Waiakea finished third — Saya Yabe led the Warriors’ charge in fourth — and will send five harriers to Oahu, as will fifth-place Kamehameha. Hilo was fourth, but Kamehameha was the top Division II finisher.
The boys race was closer, with Kealakehe (69) edging Ka Makani by 19 points. Thunder Frost (fourth) and Adalberto Malagon (seventh) joined Bartholomy in the top 10 for the Waveriders.
Hilo was third, getting a third-place finish from River Brown, and Honokaa was fourth.
Kohala’s Josiah Adams rounded out the the top five in the boys race.
When the state meet was last held at CORP in 2010, Leilehua’s Margarito Martinez won the boys race in 15:50.05 while Seabury Hall’s Dakota Grossman took the girls race in 19:27.50.
That year, the BIIF’s top finishers were Honokaa’s Chris Mosch in ninth in 17:23.05, and HPA’s Zoe Sims in seventh in 20:14.85.
However, state champions do come from the Big Island: HPA’s girls captured the team crown in 2011, and HPA’s Emmett Weatherford brought home the boys state title in 2004.
