LIHU‘E — Camilla Vernon of Island School came from behind to take the Girls 400 Meter Run, Grade 8 division, Sunday at Vidinha Stadium. Off the line, Waimea Canyon Middle School’s Tiara Soliven held the lead until the final 15
LIHU‘E — Camilla Vernon of Island School came from behind to take the Girls 400 Meter Run, Grade 8 division, Sunday at Vidinha Stadium.
Off the line, Waimea Canyon Middle School’s Tiara Soliven held the lead until the final 15 yards, when Vernon turned on the turbochargers to overtake Soliven by less than a body’s length at the line.
Soliven, in an effort to preserve the lead, tumbled onto the track following a clean finish, stopping the clock at 1:12.04, just 0.29 seconds in back of Vernon, who stopped the clock at 1:11.75 for first place in the event.
Camille Vernon, also of Island School, topped the 800 Meter Girls race with a 3:00.35 run, almost three seconds faster than her schoolmate Ally Pascual (3:03.00), followed by Autumn Warnock (3:10.81).
Camille Vernon’s performances earned her Outstanding Girls honor for the Middle School division of the County’s 2011 Age Group Track Meet which was held over Saturday and Sunday at Vidinha Stadium.
Chavis Garma of Waimea Canyon Middle School and Noah LaMadrid of Kapa‘a Middle School topped the Outstanding Boys for the Middle School division.
Garma, an eighth grade student, topped the Boys Standing Broad Jump with a leap of 8 feet, 1.5 inches, just an inch and a half over St. Catherine’s John Ortego.
He also helped WCMS take the 400 Meter Relay as the team’s anchor, crossing the line at 55.36 seconds, ahead of Edmar Yago of Chiefess Kamakahelei Middle School (57.19) and Ortega (1:03.9).
LaMadrid topped the 200 Meter Run with 26.63 seconds, nearly four seconds ahead of Jonah Stokes of the Christian Homeschools of Kaua‘i, CHOK emblazoned on the athletes’ smart brown t-shirt uniforms.
Garma’s performance helped fuel the WCMS team to a first place in its division, tallying 277 points over Island School (267 points) and CKMS (176 points).
Despite the second place team showing in the middle school division, Island School also copped the Outstanding Girls honor in the Elementary division when Kelta O’Rourke was awarded the honor, Saturday.
Ellsworth Kaleiohi of King Kaumuali‘i Elementary was named the Outstanding Boy athlete.
‘Ele‘ele School topped the team competition in the Elementary division with 231 points, followed by Wilcox Elementary School (176 points) and Kekaha School (120 points).
Kaleiohi earned his Outstanding honor in the sprints, topping the Grades 2-3 of the 100 Meter Run at 15.64 over Chayse Garcia (16.3) and schoolmate Sean Mullikin (16.35).
Kaleiohi went on to top the Boys 50 Meter Run at 8.20 seconds, just ahead of Mullikin (8.36) and Bryson Kapahu (8.52) of Kekaha School.
He rounded out the day with top honors in the Boys 200 Meter Run, stopping the clock at 33.81 over Kapahu (35.13) and Kai Hughes (35.27).
Kelta O’Rourke, competing in the Grades 4-5 division for Kilauea School, topped the 200 Meter Run on a 31.30 run, edging out Rain Owen (31.87) and Monique Joy Lorenzo (32.69).
She also topped the Girls 100 Meter Run on a 14.49 sprint over Jessica Lopez (14.66) and Waileia Edwards (14.86).
Young athletes ages 9 to 14 are invited to participate in the Hershey’s Track and Field Youth Program, which provides beginners an opportunity to experience the sport of track and field while allowing experienced track and field athletes the chance to compete and prepare for the Hershey’s national competition.
Applications are available at all neighborhood centers on the island as well as at the Department of Parks and Recreation office located in the Mo‘ikeha Building at the Lihu‘e Civic Center.
Deadline for submitting the completed applications is May 13.
This year’s Hershey’s Track and Field Games will be held May 21 starting at 9 a.m. at Vidinha Stadium.
Call the Lihu‘e Neighborhood Center at 241-6858 for more information.
