Scott Martin, Emma Makepa-Foley earn outstanding overall athlete awards LIHU‘E – Joseph Locey made his appearance at the Rotary Track Meet, Friday evening, and similar to his style, dominated his only race of the night – the Boys 400 Meter
Scott Martin, Emma Makepa-Foley earn outstanding overall athlete awards
LIHU‘E – Joseph Locey made his appearance at the Rotary Track Meet, Friday evening, and similar to his style, dominated his only race of the night – the Boys 400 Meter Dash where he finished in 52.59, almost four seconds better than second place finisher, Brian Rodriguez of Kaua‘i High School.
But, despite the Kapa‘a dominance in the Boys events, the Warriors slumped in the Girls events to give Kaua‘i the overall title over Waimea when the dust settled.
The Red Raiders pulled ahead of the Menehune by just a point in the boys as well as girls overall standings for the overall 305.50 points. Waimea finished with 303.50 points followed by Kapa‘a who pulled together 294 points.
Kapa‘a finished tough in the Boys 200 Meter Dash where Brian Maneja edged out Kaua‘i’s Jeffrey Tabalba by a scant .14 second, and took top honors in the Boys 4×100 Relay with the team of Justin Torio, Greg Ragsac, Mason Ishiki, and Maneja tripping the clock at 46.90 over the Kaua‘i “A” team.
The Red Raiders finished with seven gold medals in the boys competition led by Lance Okasaki’s double win in the hurdles as well as being part of the top Boys 4×400 Meter Relay team.
Kaua‘i’s Ivan Kuapahi dominated the field events with dual wins in the Shot Put and Discus with Jesse Slade controlling the High Jump almost four inches better than Kapa‘a’s Lyndon Pascual.
Tabalba reversed the finish in the Boys 100 Meter Dash as he topped Maneja by .12 second for the gold.
Scott Martin edged out Okasaki with three solid gold medals to lead the Menehune who finished with five first finishes, Martin topping the Boys 800-, 1500-, and 3000-Meter Runs.
The lead gave Martin the overall athlete award presented by the hosting Rotarians.
Following Martin, the Menehune pulled gold from the sand as Thomas Batis was six inches better than Kapa‘a’s Coty Salausa in the Long Jump, and Kolin Morikawa battled a cold along with the field as he topped the Triple Jump on a leap of 40-05.25, over two inches better than second plae finisher Kiah Imai of Kapa‘a.
Emma Makepa-Foley led the Kaua‘i girls’ attack with three gold medals in the Red Raiders’ harvest of nine gold medals overall including a sweep in the relays where MakepaFoley was part of the victorious 4×100 team.
Makepa-Foley reaped gold in the sprint events with a 13.26 finish over fellow Red Raider Kristen Shim who tripped the clock at 13.40 before collapsing in the dust from the effort in the 100 Meter Dash.
More gold filled Makepa-Foley’s purse as she was almost a second faster than Waimea’s Sonya Tacub in the 200 Meter Dash, Tacub celebrating her birthday at that event.
Makepa-Foley’s final gold where she bettered team mate Miki Ueoka by almost two inches, the sand settling at 15-04.00 for the gold.
Erin Fabro picked up two gold in both the Shot Put and Discus where she dominated the Kapa‘a challengers on distances of 32-03.00 and 109-01 respectively.
Chelsea Pabo added to the Kaua‘i gold coffers with first finishes in the 300 Meter Hurdles as well as being on the opening leg of the winning 4×100 relay team, and Savannah Rollins topped the 400 Meter Dash, Tacub being relegated to her second silver of the night.
Waimea’s Rachel Martin topped the Girls 1500 Meter Run over Kapa‘a’s Alexandra Pond only to have the tables turn in the 3000 Meter event where Pond topped Martin.
Summer Ibara topped the 800 Meter Run for Waimea with Robyn Arrington bringing home the gold in the Triple Jump on a leap of 32-03.75 over Kapa‘a’s Joanne Kaona who finished at 31-01.00.
Anna Baudoin rounded out the Menehune gold medalists with a .06 second finish over Kaona in the 100 Meter Hudles.
Defending state High Jump champion Jennifer Lindsey walked off with the gold in that event, topping Arrington by four solid inches.
Waimea coach Dave Walker noted that a lot of the athletes were not running in the Friday night event, some recuperating from their showing at the Maui track meet the week before while others were involved in the KIF girls basketball game that was taking place at the same time at the Bernice Hundley gym in Kapa‘a.
Kaua‘i coach Ron Valesco was philosophical about the the meet noting that it allowed the runners who would otherwise be overshadowed to be able to gain experience at the meet.
