LIHUE — Kauai High School senior Taegan Keep tossed the discus 135 feet when she claimed the 2017 Island Movers Hawaii High School Athletic Association track and field championships in girls discus.
Keep, who qualified for the state meet last week with a toss of 125 feet, improved on her throw Thursday during the Kauai Interscholastic Federation Qualifying Meet No. 2 at Vidinha Stadium. She finished the meet one of two KIF athletes qualifying with a discus toss of 126 feet, 11 inches.
“I threw 135 feet to get the state title,” Keep said. “I can do better. I hope to break 135 feet before the state meet.”
Kauai High School athlete Mark Tabalbag, falling short on six feet in the boys high jump, last week, refined his style to clear six feet to surpass the qualifying standard of 5-10.
These two are the sole qualifiers following two weeks at Vidinha Stadium.
Coming close, Waimea’s Monique Joy Lorenzo took to the hurdles track for the first time where she trailed Kapaa’s Briana Binder through most of the run in the girls 100 meter hurdles. Binder stumbled on the second-last hurdle, opening the door for Lorenzo to overtake the Kapaa runner and stop the clock at 17.24 seconds, a .10 second shy of the qualifying time stamp.
Similarly, the Kauai High School 4 x 100 relay team is seeking the state time after finishing first on a 53.38 run, a mere .14 second shy of the qualifying 53.14 bar.
On the boys track, the Kapaa High School boys 4 x 100 relay team stopped the clock first at 45.26, just .02 second shy of the state mark.
The KIF qualifying meet continues at 4:30 p.m. Thursday at Vidinha Stadium.
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
