Pierce Murphy made his triumphant debut on the track on Friday for the first of six Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation Qualifying Track Meets at Vidinha Stadium. The former Kula School student was forced to take the last track season off because
Pierce Murphy made his triumphant debut on the track on Friday for the first of six Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation Qualifying Track Meets at Vidinha Stadium.
The former Kula School student was forced to take the last track season off because the Sharks did not have a track team and therefore, Murphy watched as his peers competed week after week to qualify for the state championships.
Now an Island School sophomore, Murphy is in the KIF and he made a strong debut winning the 1,500 and 3,000 meter runs. Murphy finished first in the 1,500 with a time of 4:28.96, just over 30 seconds more than the second-place finisher Peter Joyce of Waimea (4:59.44).
“I felt excited that I was able to compete and that I was able to get good times, too,” Murphy said.
Murphy had a little taste of the competition last year when he competed in the Mayor’s Invitation and the Rotary meet. Runners did not need to be attached to a school to compete in those two competitions.
“I wasn’t that nervous (for the meet) because I knew what it was like from last year,” Murphy said. “I like it now that I’m actually with the other schools and I can run for a school.”
Murphy went on to lap his competition in the 3,000 by finishing at 9:44.76. Joyce finished at 13.17.77 and Waimea’s Quinn Gonsalves finished at 14.18.96.
Kaua‘i’s Kathleen Cadiente also made a strong 2009 debut winning three of her individual events — the Long Jump, where she got an automatic state-qualifying jump of 16-feet-4 1/2 inches, the High Jump (4-feet-10 inches) and the 100 Meter Dash (13.03). Cadiente was also the lead-off runner for the first-place Kaua‘i A 4×100 Meter Relay team (54.43). She and her younger sister Kelsey are the two returning from last year’s state championship 4×100 squad.
Waimea produced four dual winners on Friday. Caralyn Broyles won the Girls 3,000 Meter Run (13.17.86) and the Girls 1,500 (5:40.14), Charleen Miguel won the Girls 400 Meter Das (1:12.65) and the Girls 200 Meter Dash (28.78), and Jayme Jacinto won both hurdles races (100 Meter Hurdles, 17.85 and 300 Meter Hurdles, 52.29). Erin Bovid won the Girls Shot Put (19-feet-5 1/2) and the Girls Discus (60-feet-4 inches).
Waimea’s Torrey Santiago also won two events. Santiago edged out Kaua‘i’s Justin Ramos and Darren Acoba in the 200 Meter Dash with a time of 23.88. In the field event’s Santiago won the Long Jump with a distance of 20-feet-4 1/2 inches.
A few single event winners were Kapa‘a’s Tyler Cram who won the Boys High Jump at 5-feet-10 inches, Waimea’s Malcolm Carter who won the Boys Triple Jump with a distance of 41-feet-10 1/4 inches, and Kaua‘i’s Kepa Naka‘ahiki who won the Boys Shot Put (34-feet-6 1/4). Kapa‘a’s Joseph Velasco won the Boys 300 Meter Hurdles with a time of 45.02.
On the girls side, Waimea’s Natasha Abadillow won the 800 Meter Run with a time of 2:46.25.
Friday was also the debut for the new performance board at the jumping pit. Last season, parents united in a fundraising effort to acquire the performance board for the kids to use this season.
The next qualifying meet will be on Friday at the Vidinha Stadium
