LIHU‘E — Island School runner Pierce Murphy is the top runner in Hawai‘i in two events following the Thursday qualifying track meet at Vidinha Stadium.
Murphy was one of three student-athletes in the Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation to make the coveted No. 1 spot in the state based on the MileSplit.US Hawai‘i website, which tracks athletes throughout the state in their track and field performances.
Murphy topped the 1500 Meter Run in 4:02.08, more than 17 seconds faster than the state auto time standard of 4:19.64 and almost 38 seconds ahead of Kaua‘i High School’s Joshua Herr who crossed for the silver in that event on a 4:40.00 run.
But Murphy didn’t stop there, taking top honors in the Mixed 3000 Meter Run at 8:48.58, well ahead of the state auto time standard of 9:39.44. He also beat his own time of 8:52.41 to remain in the top spot for that event on the MileSplit website.
Darren Acoba of Kaua‘i High School made the top spot for the state with his 15.36 run in the 110 Meter Hurdles event, surpassing the state auto time standard of 15.74.
Despite those performances, the Kapa‘a boys topped the overall results with 106 points, edging out Kaua‘i High School (102) by four. Waimea High School (40) and Island School (18) rounded out the field with results of running events only tabulated.
The third KIF athlete to make the MileSplit listing is Kevin Marshall Adkisson of Kapa‘a who holds the spot with his Discus toss of 158 feet, 5 inches.
Kaua‘i’s Kawehi Louis-Diamond continued to work on her events, getting an auto time with her 15.26 first finish in the Girls 100 Meter Hurdles, and a consideration time with her third finish in the Girls 300 Meter Hurdles at 49.40, edging out the consideration standard of 51.24.
Louis-Diamond also debuted on the Girls 200 Meter Dash track, ending with a gold medal with her 27.83 run, which fell short of the consideration standard of 27.64 by 0.19 seconds.
Jayme Jacinto of Waimea topped the Girls 300 Meter Hurdles event on a 48.56 run, bettering the state auto standard of 49.15, followed by Kapa‘a’s Rachel Hinkel at 49.07, falling just 0.08 seconds off the auto time.
Hinkel finished second in the Girls 100 Meter Hurdles on a 16.93 run, falling short of the consideration standard of 17.44.
Lauren Spears of Island School came back in the final lap of the Girls 800 Meter Run to edge out teammate Joy Claypoole with a 2:34.80 run, but falling short of the consideration standard of 2:34.54.
However, she did get a consideration run in the Girls 1500 Meter Run, stopping the clocks at 5:23.77, surpassing the consideration standard of 5:24.24.
The Kaua‘i High School Girls 4×100 Relay team also honed its performance with a first finish of 51.85 for an auto time (51.94). On its heels, the Waimea Girls 4×100 Relay stopped the clock at 54.70 for a consideration standard (54.94).
The Kaua‘i High School girls topped the overall performance with 93 points with just running events tabulated. They were followed by Kapa‘a (75), Waimea (50), and Island School (45).
The public is invited to the Rotary Track Meet which begins at 4:30 p.m., Thursday at Vidinha Stadium.
• Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@kauaipubco.com.
