WAIPAKE — Kaua‘i High School’s Chelsea Smith-Wishard finished first overall, over a minute ahead of the pack, but the Kapa‘a High girls team took first place in the KIF cross country meet Saturday. Smith-Wishard, considered one of the top high
WAIPAKE — Kaua‘i High School’s Chelsea Smith-Wishard finished first overall, over a minute ahead of the pack, but the Kapa‘a High girls team took first place in the KIF cross country meet Saturday.
Smith-Wishard, considered one of the top high school runners in the state, was followed by Elizabeth LaMadrid at 13th overall.
Smith-Wishard’s blistering pace stopped the clock at 21:43.57.
Ella Arume paced the victorious Kapa‘a women as all five of their runners crossed between seventh and 11th place overall.
Arume (25:00.28) was followed by Whitney Rowe (25:25.83), Nahtice Nield (25:30.13), Rachel Ganir (25:51.72) and Kalia Mayer (25:53.49). The Warrior wahine finished with 45 event points in first place followed by Kaua‘i High’s 63 points in second and Kula rounding out the leaders with 70 points in third.
“They work hard,” Kapa‘a head coach Kara Panui said of her girls. “They stick together and have fun, but more than that, they’re really good kids. They make it easy to coach.”
Elizabeth Young (27:52.19-15th), Leeana Carvalho (28:00.68-16th) and Kailyn Kealoha (28:06.53-18th) counted in the Kaua‘i girls’ scoring.
Gillian Pickett (24:39.55-5th) and Amber Loughead (24:49.99-6th) led the Kula effort.
Paced by Kaimana Girod (18:33.82) who finished first overall in the boys’ race, Waimea placed their five scoring runners in the top eight to capture first place with 24 points.
The Menehune were followed by Kaua‘i in second place with 65 points, Kapa‘a in third with 81 points and Island School earning 103 points for fourth place.
Following Girod, Waimea placed John Pearson (20:10.83-4th), Jared Coleman-Stark (20:11.21-5th), Steven Rivera (20:26.33-6th) and Stevenson Rivera (20:45.94-8th).
Darren Lapitan (20:29.47-7th) set the pace for the Red Raiders. Adam Kerlin (19:41.38-3rd) topped the Kapa‘a boys and Chris Marsh (18:57.74-2nd) led the Island School effort.
Saturday will be the final KIF cross country meet for the season on the grounds of Island School. The meet is scheduled to start at 4 p.m.
The State Hawai‘i High School Athletic Association meet will be held on O‘ahu Nov. 11.
