WAIMEA — Between the mist, the mud and the rain, visibility – let alone footing – wasn’t the best, but it sure looked like it was Kealakehe’s Levi Childers making the turn in a three-man race for first with about 100 yards to go.
It was. Childers used a resilient philosophy to handle the hazardous conditions Saturday morning at Hawaii Prep. When he slipped and fell, he picked himself up and wiped himself off, on the run.
“Who knew there was going to be a blizzard at the (HHSAA) cross-country championships?” Childers said.
He didn’t win a sprint to finish, but Childers and Cozette Wood each delivered bronze medals as the Waveriders represented like few BIIF schools have the past decade at the state 5K.
“It’s a complete victory for me,” Childers said after finishing in 18 minutes, 52.64 seconds. “I’ll take the bronze with happiness.”
So did Wood.
The BIIF champion shook her head when she crossed in 22:07.87, but that didn’t tell the story.
“I was so tired coming through, I think I could barely believe I was third,” she said.
The first state championship to he held in almost 20 months had a likely team at the top: Punahou.
That’s nothing new. The ILH powerhouse claimed the girls title for the ninth year in a row, and the boys earned a repeat.
Kealakehe’s medal haul was something of a surprise.
Childers’ third-place finish was the highest for Big Island boy since Waiakea’s Louie Ondo took second in 2015.
“The weather is a part of the course, and I like to see it as an advantage,” Childers said.
The junior was runner-up at the BIIF championship two weeks ago at HPA behind Waiakea’s Kederang Ueda, who didn’t run at the state meet.
Wood’s bronze was the first for a BIIF girl since Hilo High’s Mehana Sabado-Halpern took third in 2014.
“It was very challenging, I wouldn’t say a joyride,” said, Wood, a junior. “It was a very tough race.
“I actually didn’t fall. Some of the boys told me to go through the rivers, where there was less mud, so I just went on those and it helped.”
With 100 yards to go, Childers said he was passed by two runners who “put the hammer down.”
Maui High senior Kaimana Cantere (18:48.26) had just enough to nail down victory, besting Kalaheo’s Ben Zerr by six-tenths of a second.
“I had the mindset of this is it, give it all you got,” said Cantere, who improved on a 68th-place finish from 2019. “This is your last year, right here is the time to go. Right here is the time to shine.”
Kealakehe finished fourth overall in Division I, buoyed by top-15 finishes from Aiden Ankrum (11th) and Cameron Cornforth (15th), as the top public school.
The Waveriders chased the BIIF team title all season only to be denied by Waiakea at the league championships. Waveriders coach Patrick Bradley said the Warriors opted to run at meet on the mainland this weekend.
“We would have beaten Waiakea easy today,” Bradley said.
For all Punahou’s team dominance, Izzy Ford’s victory (in 21:24.07) was the first for a Buffanblu girls since 2011. Seabury Hall’s Kaylee Volner was second, and Punahou put five runners in the top 13.
Hilo High freshman Kekaihulali Halpern (23:48.96) was 12th and Waiakea’s Shanay Ha’a (24:04.69) came in 14th. Hawaii Prep’s Caroline Betlach (25:16.08) was 27th and she was followed by teammates Anita Lockwood (37th), Jordan Perry (40th), Lily Kassis (42nd) and Ali Wawner (50th). Ka Makani were second in Division II behind Hawaii Baptist. Konawaena’s Shaian Garana, the 2019 BIIF champ, was 39th.
HPA’s boys posted three top-40 finishes: Bear Wawner (32), Parker Smith (35), Lucas Duba (39) as Ka Makani were fourth in D-II. HBA was first.
Few, if anybody, enjoyed themselves as much as Cantere.
“Besides all the slipping, it was very fun course,” he said. “One, it was on a different island, the excitement to race with everybody. After two years of not having a race against other schools from other islands, it was a thrill to me.”