Sunrise Athletics heats it up at state junior Olympics

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The following competitors from Sunrise Athletics participated at the Hawaii State Junior Olympics Track and Field Championships on Oahu in July.

The following competitors from Sunrise Athletics participated at the Hawaii State Junior Olympics Track and Field Championships on Oahu in July.

• Reigning BIIF 3,000 champion Steven Ching set the pace in the race to win gold and led the way for his teammates as Elisha Watkins, Joshua Ho, and Deylan Okinaka took spots 2-4.

In the 1,500, Eric Cabais-Fernandez took control early but Chung threw in his signature kick late and outleaned his teammates by eight-hundredths of a second for a second gold. Ho and Watkins followed.

A motivated Cabais-Fernandez wasn’t to be denied in the 800, winning gold ahead of a pack of Sunrise athletes, with Ho, Chung, Watkins, and Okinaka filling out the top five.

• Middle school athlete Kederang Ueda – who races with the heart of a lion and is always driven by the need to prove he can stick with the “big boys” of the club, according to coaches – captured double gold in the 1,500 and 3,000.

• High school sprinter Sydirah Aricayos had a busy day at the finals and collected several medals, grabbing gold in the 400 and long jump (14 feet, 6 inches), silver in the 200 and third in the 100.

• High schooler Jaeda Yamasaki shaved close to a minute off her personal-best in the 3,000, good enough for gold.

• In the triple jump, Cassidy Denault skipped to gold, reaching 26-8.75. Teryn Tominaga, who had all four events in one day, won bronze third.

• Cathryn Krueger leaped to victory in the long jump, reaching 13-8.25.

• After a conservative start, 8-year-old Shane Tominaga nearly ran down the leader in the 800, taking silver with a personal-best of 2:51.45.

• Middle school athlete Kacie Tagawa, going up against older harriers, took the early lead in the 1,500 and ended up with bronze. She was grabbed silver in the 800, with Akemi Tominaga and Teryn Tominaga following in fourth and fifth, respectively.

• Shaely Dela Cruz, fresh off a volleyball tournament, finished eighth in the 400.

• Cyrusy Bower, another middle school sprinter, finished 8th in the 400.

• Eight year-old newcomer Rylan Gumbs, one of the youngest of jumpers for his division, took eighth in the long jump with an effort of 9-5.75, which was an inch shy of eighth.