Louie Ondo and Mehana Sabado-Halpern are undefeated no more, but they’ve added another shiny medal to their collections: state bronze.
Louie Ondo and Mehana Sabado-Halpern are undefeated no more, but they’ve added another shiny medal to their collections: state bronze.
The dominant Big Island Interscholastic Federation runners each held on Saturday to place third at the Hawaii High School Athletic Association cross-country championships at Central Oahu Regional Park.
It was fitting that Ondo, a Waiakea junior, and Sabado-Halpern, a Hilo senior, finished in the same spot. They rarely found competition in going 7-for-7 in BIIF races this season, but they had to fight off challenges at states.
Sabado-Halpern finished her 3-mile race in 19 minutes, 18.2 seconds, just one one-hundredth of a second ahead of St. Andrew’s Jordan Jones. Kaiser’s Lisa Tashiro (18:59.9) won the championship, with Iolani’s Amanda Beaman second.
Ondo’s 16:19.7 was a little less than a second better than Kamehameha-Kapalama’s Kainalu Asam. The Oahu Warriors’ Kaeo Kruse claimed gold in 15:38.2, while Kalaheo’s Makai Clemons (15.55) was runner-up.
Kealakehe’s Ziggy Bartholomy and Kohala’s Josiah Adams finished eighth and 10th, respectively, and Bartholomy helped the BIIF champion Waveriders place ninth in a team race that was won by Kamehameha-Kapalama, which secured a three-peat.
Kealakehe’s Thunder Frost (13th), Hilo’s River Brown (17th) and Hawaii Prep’s Nate Ladwig (18th) nabbed top-20 finishes, while Keaau’s Carlos Valdez was 23rd.
The highest BIIF girl behind Sabado-Halpern was Kealakehe’s Keili Dorn in 28th.
The Punahou girls ruled at the HHSAA run for the ninth time in the past 10 years. Their only blemish during that span came when Hawaii Prep broke through at states in 2011. On Saturday, Ka Makani were ninth, led by Savannah Cochran (42nd) and Ada Benson (43rd).
Other BIIF runners in the top 50 were Konawaena’s Olga Brocks (48th) and Waiakea’s Saya Yabe (50th), and Kamehameha’s Kaimiola Ho (31st), Konawaena’s Cody Ranfranz (39th), Keaau’s Jeffery Farrell (47th), Hawaii Prep’s Kelii Van Kirk Hawaii Prep (48th) and Waiakea’s Slater Inouye (50th).
GIRLS
Team: 1. Punahou 45; 2. Kaiser 73; 3. Iolani 78; 4. Kamehameha-Kapalama 165; 5. Mililani 178. Also: 9. Hawaii Prep 257; 19. Kealakehe 489; 20. 20. Kamehameha-Hawaii 496; 22. Waiakea 500.
Individual
1. Lisa Tashiro, Kaiser 18:59.9
2. Amanda Beaman, Iolani 19:11.8
3. Mehana Sabado-Halpern, Hilo 19:18.2
4. Jordan Jones, St. Andrew’s 19:18.3
5. Teri Brady, Punahou 19:19.2
6. Kailey Totherow, Punahou 19:24.9
7. Noe Obermeyer, Punahou 19:25.7
8. Vanessa Roybal, Mililani 19:33.3
9. Mary Moloney, Radford 19:42.0
10. Lauren Gibbs, Mililani 19:42.4
Other top-50 BIIF finishers
28. Keili Dorn, Kealakehe 20:57.8
43. Ada Benson Hawaii Prep 21:30.7
48. Olga Brocks, Konawaena 21:37.6
50. Saya Yabe, Waiakea 21:41.3
BOYS
Team: 1. Kamehameha-Kapalama 48; 2. Punahou 80; 3. Mid-Pacific 159; 4. Maui 185; 5. Iolani 189; Also: 9. Kealakehe 259; 10. Hawaii Prep 268; 12. Honokaa 334; 15. Kamehameha-Hawaii 366
Individual
1. Kaeo Kruse, Kamehameha-Oahu 15:38.2
2. Makai Clemons, Kalaheo 15:55.0
3. Louie Ondo, Waiakea 16:19.7
4. Kainalu Asam, Kamehameha-Oahu 16:20.6
5. Connor Lehl, Punahou 16:37.2
6. Eric Miyauchi, Moanalua 16:42.3
7. Jakob Dewald, Mililani 16:44.1
8. Ziggy Bartholomy, Kealakehe 16:54.0
9. Gordon Kowolkowshi, Punahou 16:59.9
10. Josiah Adams, Kohala 17:00.2
Other top-50 BIIF finishers
13. Thunder Frost, Kealakehe 17:08.3
17. River Brown, Hilo 17:14.6
18. Nate Ladwig, Hawaii Prep 17:14.6
23. Carlos Valdez, Keaau 17:37.7
31. Kaimiola Ho, Kamehameha-Hawaii 17:49.3
39. Cody Ranfranz, Konawaena 17:58.1
47. Jeffery Ferrell, Keaau 18:10.6
48. Kelii Van Kirk, Hawaii Prep 18:10.8
50. Slater Inouye, Waiakea 18:13.5