KEAAU – Kealakehe distance ace Leann Hamilton already had won the 400-meter run, and as she gained on Konawaena’s Jadyn Hanks in the final leg of the 4×400 relay she appeared on her way to another win.
And then she wasn’t.
Perhaps sensing Hamilton’s presence, Hanks was gone.
One BIIF athlete watching Saturday from the gate that separates the stands from the track at Cougars stadium wondered aloud: How can someone running so fast run even faster?
Wildcats coach Will Silsley wonders, too.
“(Jadyn) only goes hard enough to win, that’s just how she is,” Silsley said. “It’s hard for me, it’s like pulling teeth to make her run her fastest.
“The only reason her times have been improving is because she doesn’t want to lose to her sister.”
Between Jadyn Hanks, Caiya Hanks and hurdlers Jayda Flenory and Kiyome Watanabe, losing isn’t something the Wildcats have become accustomed to in BIIF relays events.
Flenory took the baton from Danali Glenzel and made up a lot of time in the 4×400, but the better action came in the 4×100, where Watanabe ran the first leg, handed to Melina Ramirez, then the Hanks sisters did their thing as the Wildcats won in 51.81 seconds, which stands as the fifth-fastest time in the state this season, according to statistics posted at Athletic.net.
“They’re gradually getting better,” Silsley said. “They’re young, so they are getting familiar with one another and the races at the same time.”
Back as coach after three years as an assistant, Silsley, a 1998 Konawaena grad who previously served as coach in 2000, might not have the largest girls roster in the league, but the Wildcats will give it a go with “eight solid girls that will score us points.”
Now that Kamehameha’s Saydee Aganus has graduated after two seasons of domination, it’s safe to enter the hurdling events again, and Watanabe and Flenory have taken advantage.
In the 100 hurdles, each senior posted a personal record, Watanabe won in 16.07 – that’s fifth in the state and more than a full second ahead of the No. 2 time in the BIIF – and Flenory finished third in 17.17.
Flenory is the only BIIF girl to break 50 seconds in the 300 hurdles this season, and Saturday she won in 49.51, with Watanabe fourth.
Flenory won silver at the 2018 BIIF championships in the 300 behind Aganus, while Watanabe was third in the 100.
“This year, they are a lot more excited about being able to win (without Saydee),” Silsley said. “Last year, they new they were racing for second.”
Jadyn Hanks claimed silver in the 400 at the 2018 BIIF championships behind Kamehameha powerhouse Chenoa Frederick, though Hanks has yet to run the event this season, primarily focusing on the 100 and 200 sprints, where top competition comes from her freshman sister.
In a 100 in which the top three all recorded PRs, Kealakehe’s Saidah Muhammad (12.76) edged Caiya Hanks (12.84) and Jadyn Hanks (12.96). In the 200, the Hanks sisters each finished in 26.80, with Muhammad (26.86) third.
Jadyn and Caiya ran top-six state times the 200 on March 23 at Waiakea, though Frederick, who didn’t compete Saturday, is the BIIF pace-setter in both sprints.
Silsley also has been encouraged by the point-scoring capabilities shown by freshmen Shaian Garana and (800) and Glenzel (300 hurdles).
“For a year that was supposed to be a rebuilding year, we’re doing really good,” he said.
Konawaena’s boys, Silsley said, don’t have enough depth to compete for a team title, though Tyler Johnson ranks sixth in the state in the 300 hurdles.
That’s a wrap
Honokaa coach Jeri Moniz said Sophia Cash has decided not to run track during her senior year, putting her prolific BIIF career to a close.
Cash was a three-time champion in the 3,000, and last October she became the BIIF’s first four-time cross-country champion.
Throws of victory
Kamehameha junior Kay-Leigh Polido put up a pair of PRs in winning the shot put and discus, and her toss of 37-8.5 in the shot ranks second in the state behind Punahou’s Sina Uluave (38-5). Polido’s distance of 106-3 in the discus is the sixth-best throw in Hawaii so far.
Waiakea’s Abel Pacatang has been boys the thrower to beat all season, and he set a PR in the discus (144-3) that’s fourth in the state. Pacatang stands sixth in Hawaii the shot put, but teammate Ka’iolana Kon won the event Saturday.
Also
Kealakeha’s Calvin McHone swept the 100 and 200 sprints, racing to a PR of 11.01 in the 100. There have been five faster times in state in 2019 all sub-11s. Waiakea’s Cheyn Tam-Switzer, second in both sprints, still holds the BIIF’s top 2019 time in the 200.
Also for the Waveriders, Tainoa Kekauoha-Chartrand recorded a PR of 16.15 in the 100 hurdles, tops in the league, and Jahren Simpliciano captured the 800 and 1,500.
• Kamehameha’s Tai Atkins set three PRs in winning the long jump (21 feet, 3 inches) triple (42-10.75) and high jump (5-8). The efforts in the long and triple are BIIF bests and rank fifth, and fourth, respectively in the state.
• Hilo freshman Xoch Gervais PR’d with a 5:11.09 in claiming the 1,500, which bests the time Hamilton, the defending champ in the event, posted three weeks ago. Hamilton, whose PR is 4:57.91, didn’t run the 1,500 on Saturday, but she did claim the 800 along with the 400.
Gervais was second in the 800, and the Vikings’ Phoebie Wyatt was second in the 1,500, and she led the way as Hilo swept the top four spots in the 3,000.
• Waiakea’s Cienna Corpuz (9-9), Jasmine Lewis (9-9) and Mariko Rei Nakano (8-3) swept the top spots in the pole vault, all with PRs, and Corpuz and Lewis are tied for fourth in the state rankings.