PUHI — Island School’s Pierce Murphy is No. 2 in the state. The top Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation boys cross country runner ran his best time on the Puhi course in three times running, but came up short against Leilehua’s Margarito
PUHI — Island School’s Pierce Murphy is No. 2 in the state.
The top Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation boys cross country runner ran his best time on the Puhi course in three times running, but came up short against Leilehua’s Margarito Martinez at the Honolulu Marathon Cross Country championships, Saturday at Island School.
Martinez crossed the line in a blistering 15:50.05, close to the time he beat Murphy with in a preseason race on O‘ahu, while Murphy stopped the clock at 16:18.35, his best time on the Island School layout, but not his best time in the KIF season. Murphy’s best run came following his defeat by Martinez on O‘ahu that motivated the runner to post a 15:55.05 time at the Waimea High School site earlier in the season.
Murphy’s time was more than 26 seconds faster than the No. 3 overall finisher, Jordan Thribodeau of Kamehameha-Kapalama, crossing at 16:44.95.
Overall, Kamehameha-Kapalama took the boys team title with 56 points over Punahou (85 points), I‘olani (94 points), Maui (107 points) and Leilehua (124 points). Kapa‘a finished No. 13 in the field with runners Riley Cox (18:12.00), Maximilian Drubba (19:30.55) , Brycen Phillips (19:47.95), Micah Domingcil (19:59.25) and Makana Weiss (20.42.10).
Martinez blazed off the restart of the boys race, eking out a lead spot ahead of the 160-runner pack, while Murphy was boxed in on the left side, crammed between taller runners from Ke‘au, I‘olani and Aiea heading into the first turn.
That situation continued until the pack was past the initial course and Murphy did not break out of the pack until past the half-mile mark.
From there, the race was between Martinez and Murphy, the Island School runner never really in a position to make a move on Martinez.
Following Murphy, Riley Cox of Kapa‘a was the next KIF runner to cross, finishing 55th on an 18:12.00 run. Kaua‘i’s Joshua Herr followed at 77th overall on an 18:34.20 run. Waimea’s Keone Mattos (19:59.30) and Jonathan Tangalin (20:13.50) finished in Nos. 140 and 146, respectively.
“That’s really good,” said Fred Sasan, one of the Kaua‘i coaches, of Herr’s race. “He made all his goals — Top 100, bettering his time by 20 seconds, and having fun. That was a good race.”
Herr replied that it was all due to surfing.
In the girls race, Punahou’s Elli Brady made the move from No. 3 to No. 1 in the downhill portion of the first leg and held on the the lead for the remainder of the race, stopping the clock at 18:53.85.
That set the pace for the Buffnblu girls, who finished tops in the team scoring with 62 points, just eight points ahead of Mililani (70), followed by Kamehameha-Kapalama (105 points), Hawai‘i Preparatory Academy (141 points) and I‘olani (142 points). That one-point difference was settled when HPA’s Samantha Neal (53) crossed in the 71st position on a 21:57.55 run over I‘olani’s Valerie Pyun (62), who crossed in the 85th position on a 22:17.25 run.
Kaua‘i girls finished No. 14 with the team of Kendall Andersland (22:10.50), Cinzia Bruno (22:24.45), Melissa Raisa Carlos (22:50.65), Ashley Schnackenberg (23:06.95) and Christina Pearson (24:16.95).
Waimea’s Natasha Abadilla was the top KIF girls runner, crossing in 47th place on a 21:28.00 run. She was followed by Andersland in 79th overall and Kapa‘a’s Takara Kunioka stopping the clock at 22:15.05 in the 83rd berth.
Kapa‘a’s Tiare Welborn crossed in No. 111 on a 22:54.60 run, and Waimea’s No. 2 runner in the KIF championships, crossed at No. 146 on a 24:24.50 run.
