KAILUA-KONA — History was made during Week 2 of the Big Island Interscholastic Federation’s (BIIF) track and field season Saturday on the west side of the island.
Kealakehe High School debuted its new aqua-blue track to be used for the first time in competition — giving schools from all over the Big Isle a brand new experience in the early part of the season.
The Waiakea girls took home first overall in the team competition, scoring 107 points across 34 events. Konawaena finished behind the Warriors in second with a 95 cumulative tally. The top results flipped in the boys competition, as Konawaena took gold with 143 total points while Waiakea came in second with 114.
Highlighting the girls field events, Hawaii Preparatory Academy star Elaina Head dominated the high jump, placing first overall with a 5-0 mark — good enough for top 10 in the state. Kealakehe senior Lina Husek finished behind Head in second, notching a personal record of 4-8.
Head also won the girls triple jump with a 32-10.50 mark and placed second in the long jump with a 14-11.25 distance.
In the girls running events, Hilo’s Kekaihulali Halpern recorded a top-50 time in the country in the 1500-meter run, racing in 4:57.13. Halpern won by over 30 seconds. The junior star also won the 800-meter race in 2:30.26 — good for top 10 in Hawaii.
Konawaena’s Violet Schaut raced a top-10 time in the state in the 100-meter dash — finishing in 13 seconds flat to earn gold. She also won the 200-meter dash in 26.01s for another top-10 state time.
Schaut’s teammate, freshman Jazmin Fillmore, earned another state top-10 time and personal record in the 300-meter hurdles (46.56s). Kamehameha Schools-Hawai‘i’s Alyssa Hudman, who finished second in the same race, ran another Hawaii top-10 time in 51.05s.
In the boys field events, all Konawaena competitors placed in the top four in the high jump — Keoki Alani (5-2), Maximus Meyers (5-2), Kea Sanders (5-2) and Aden Sokham (5-0).
Waiakea’s Shelbey Cabais-Fernandez earned a state top-10 mark in the pole vault with his win, earning a 13-3 mark. Cabais-Fernandez’s teammate, Tallen Soi, finished second in the event (12-9) while also notching a top-10 state mark.
KS-Hawai‘i’s Kahiau Poe earned a top-10 distance in Hawaii in the long jump, leaping 19-10.25. Poe’s teammate, Niau Paulos, earned a top-10 state mark in the discus throw in his first-place finish (141-3).
Kona’s Elias Malapit earned a personal record in the shot put with a 45-5.50 distance, getting top-10-in-the-state recognition in the process. Malapit was also awarded silver in the discus event with a 139-9 distance — another top-10 Hawaii mark.
In the running events, Laupahoehoe’s Tazein Sykes notched a personal record in his first-place finish in the 400-meter dash (52.42s). The time was good enough for top-1o in Hawaii. St. Joseph’s Amari Wiedemeier also notched a top-10 time in the same event — 53.14s to place second.
Kona’s Laanui Meyers earned a Hawaii top-10 time in the 300-meter hurdles, racing in 41.93s to beat Pahoa’s Kaumuali‘i Gancinia’s second-place time of 42.99s — which was another top-10 state finish. Another Wildcats’ star, Carmine Taetuna-Fautanu, raced a top-10 state time in the 200-meter dash — running in 23.07s to earn gold.
Shane Tominaga of Waiakea raced the 3000-meter run in 9:56.58 — being the only competitor to finish the event in under 10 minutes. His time also qualified for top-1o in Hawaii.
More results from Saturday’s meet will be available on Page 3B of Wednesday’s paper. The BIIF track and field season will continue at 9 a.m. this upcoming Saturday at Waiakea High School for Week 3 action.
The full team results can be found below:
Girls
1. Waiakea – 107 points
2. Konawaena – 95 points
3. Hilo – 72 points
4. KS-Hawai‘i – 59 points
5. Kealakehe – 58 points
6. HPA – 56 points
7. Kea‘au – 18 points
T8. Kohala – 9 points
T8. Ka‘u – 9 points
10. Pahoa – 3 points
11. Kanu – 1 point
Boys
1. Konawaena – 143 points
2. Waiakea – 114 points
3. KS-Hawai‘i – 91 points
4. Kealakehe – 46 points
5. Hilo – 30 points
T6. SJS – 18 points
T6. Pahoa – 18 points
8. Laupahoehoe – 14 points
T9. Ka‘u – 12 points
T9. Kea‘au – 12 points
11. Makua Lani – 10 points
12. Parker – 6 points
T13. Kohala – 4 points
T13. HPA – 4 points
15. Honoka‘a – 1 point