It had been a minute, but Konawaena’s Caiya Hanks and St. Andrew’s Olivia Reed remembered one another from competing three years ago as freshmen sprinters, and they decided to reminisce.
There was no better meeting spot Saturday than at the finish line of HHSAA track and field championships.
It only seemed as if they were joined at the hip in the 100-meter dash at Kamehameha-Kapalama in Honolulu. It came down to a lean, and immediately afterward Hanks remembered asking, “Did I win?”
No. She fell short by the slimmest of margins: one one-hundredth of a second.
In the 200, Hanks was more about making statements.
“I knew that I wasn’t going to lose again, I knew that I really wanted it,” she said. “I knew what I had to do to get the gold medal. I just had to root for myself, in a way. It had to be me, it had to be me.”
Hanks was the the only BIIF athlete to win gold at the state meet, and her win in the 200 is the first for a Big Island girl in the event since Kealakehe High’s Francesca Weems in 2005. In sweeping the sprints at BIIFs on May 7 at Konawaena, Hanks broke Weems’ 17-year-old league championship mark in the 200, finishing in 25.33 seconds.
On Saturday, she crossed in 25.44. Reed was second in 25.73
“The 200 is better for me. It’s not a few seconds and it’s over,” Hanks said. “I have 200 meters to win, to race. The 200 has definitely been my race for most of the season. I’ve learned to run it very well, and how to run it the right, way better than I did my freshman season.”
Approximately an hour earlier in the 100, Hanks almost made it a dead heat. Reed crossed in 12.63; Hanks took silver in 12.64.
“I was just happy that if it was going to be anyone, happy it was her,” Hanks said. “She did amazing. Just happy that we were able to compete against each other one last time.”
Hanks’ 400 relay team finished fourth.
Her last fully competitive season before this one was her sophomore soccer season. An all-BIIF midfielder, she helped the Wildcats claim a second consecutive Division I title. Her older sister, Jadyn Hanks, was named BIIF player of the year in 2020 before moving on to Idaho University, where she was the Vandals’ leading scorer with five goals last season.
Caiya Hanks’ next stop is Winston Salem, N.C., and a scholarship to play at Wake Forest. If the Demon Deacons and Idaho are ever going to play, both teams will have to advance to the NCAA Division I tournament.
“Being able to pull through and come back from such a long two years, and being able to just enjoy my last meet and come out with good times, I’m just blessed to have this opportunity,” Caiya Hanks said.
Waiakea senior Kiyoshi Todd ran his race in the 800 and was positioned to win gold when, Waiakea coach Tim Carigon said, “a blue streak (Maui’s Jared Cantere) came off the turn” and ran by everyone, passing Todd with 20 to 30 meters to go.
“Oh, my lord,” Todd said, “It’s a lot different than the Big Island. On Oahu, a lot of the runners, they go out so much faster than the Big Island.”
Still, he’d weathered the storm and was executing his plan when Cantere zipped by, becoming the first boy in the state to beat 2 minutes this season, finishing in 1:59.92.
“It was incredible,” Todd said.
He’ll savor his silver, matching his personal-best of 2:00.57.
“I got to show my teammates that I can be a good teammate,” he said. “I run for my team, not only for me. To be able to show them that I can place high, they can be proud of me, that’s the most satisfying moment.”
Waiakea senior Rylee Au claimed bronze in the pole vault – leading a 3-5-7 finish in the event for the Warriors – and she got an upclose look at the star of the meet, Tatum Moku of Kamehameha-Kapalama. Moku broke a state record by clearing 13 feet, 1 inch, in the pole vault, and she added gold in the 100 hurdles and long jump. Moku’s effort would have earned bronze in the boys pole vault.
“I was super excited,” Au said. “I wanted to watch it, because I have never been with anybody that has got that height.”
Au reached 10-6 to set a personal-best by 3 inches. She’d hoped to go higher – “I’m satisfied with where I ended,” Au said – and she will in the future after gaining admission to the U.S. Air Force Academy.
The other bronze medalists from the BIIF were Hawaii Prep freshmen Elaina Head and Talia Threlkeld, who were among a three-way tie for third Friday in the high jump, clearing 4-10. Each had gone higher during the regular season. Head won BIIFs by reaching 5-1, and Threlkeld’s best was a 4-11 in April at Keaau. On Friday in the triple jump, Head was seventh.
Also from the BIIF:
• Waiakea senior Kederang Ueda took fourth in the 1,500 and fifth in the 3,000;
• Kealakehe junior Cozette Wood finished fourth in the 3,000 and sixth in the 3,000;
• Konawaena junior Ro’o Satta-Ellis claimed fourth in the triple jump. On Friday, he was fifth in the long jump, one spot behind Kamehameha sophomore Kahiau Poe;
• Waiakea junior Kaylie Hashizaki took fifth in the 800;
• Waiakea senior Taysia Rocha was sixth in the long jump;
• Keaau’s Kamaila Paikuli finished sixth Friday in girls discus;
• Waiakea’s Isabelle Au and Analissa Paresa were fifth and seventh, respectively, in the pole vault;
• Hilo High freshman Hulali Halpern was seventh in the 1,500;
• Hawaii Prep senior Kaiulani Bento was eighth in the 100 hurdles;
• Waiakea’s 1,600 relay teams each took eighth.
