LIHU‘E — The Garden Island gold cache from high school athletic competitions last weekend was celebrated Sunday morning at the Lihu‘e Airport. Kaua‘i Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr. and County Councilman Dickie Chang joined parents and friends of the Kaua‘i High
LIHU‘E — The Garden Island gold cache from high school athletic competitions last weekend was celebrated Sunday morning at the Lihu‘e Airport.
Kaua‘i Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr. and County Councilman Dickie Chang joined parents and friends of the Kaua‘i High School baseball team who upset top-seeded Pac-Five, 11-2, for the Division II state baseball title Saturday afternoon.
But that was just one of many achievements by Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation student-athletes at various sporting events that unfolded around the state under challenging weather conditions.
Island School senior Pierce Murphy broke his own state record in the 1500 Meter Run and set a new state record in the 3000 Meter Run at the HHSAA Island Movers State Track and Field Championships at the War Memorial Stadium in Wailuku, Maui, Saturday.
Seeded second following the qualifying round, Murphy broke his 4:02.06 record in the 1500 Meter Run set in 2010 by stopping the clock at 4:01.92 for first place, more than 10 seconds ahead of second-place finisher Jordan Thibodeau of Kamehameha Schools.
Murphy was seeded third following the qualifying round of the 3000 Meter Run, but came back for gold on an 8:52.44 run, breaking the 8:52.90 record set by Bryce Jenkins of Leilehua High School in 2009 and putting Island School’s team in a three-way tie for seventh place with 20 points.
On the heels of that performance, Kaua‘i High School sprinter Darren Acoba took gold in the Boys 110 Meter Hurdles with a first-place finish of 14.85.
Red Raider sophomore Kawehi Louis-Diamond finished third in the Girls 100 Meter Hurdles (15.09), Kelsey Cadiente ended fifth in the Girls 100 Meter Dash (12.59) and Kaua‘i’s Josh Herr finished eighth in the Boys 3000 Meter Run (9:43.50).
The Kaua‘i Girls 4×100 Relay team finished third on a 49.98 run.
In other events, Joshua Cram, a Kapa‘a sophomore, finished tied for 13th in the Boys High Jump at 5-08. Kaylee Silva, a Warrior freshman, finished third in the Girls High Jump on a 5-00 leap. Kevin Mashall Adkisson finished third on a 171-04 toss in the Boys Discus, his season-best.
Rachael Hinkel finished fifth in the Girls 300 Meter Hurdles (47.91).
On the tennis front, Kapa‘a’s Chas Okamoto was perfect through the brackets en route to getting gold in the Boys Singles at the HHSAA Carlsmith Ball State Tennis Championships at the Royal Lahaina and Lahaina Civic Center on Maui.
Top-seeded Okamoto defeated No. 3 Robin Kiyabu of Punahou, 6-4, 6-2 for the title, helping lead Kapa‘a to a tie for third place with 8 points.
Kaua‘i’s Sarah Kukino, seeded No. 3, defaulted her third-place match to finish fourth, but helped the Red Raider girls team to a fifth-place finish.
Earlier in the week, Kaua‘i senior Kelli Oride finished in a tie for sixth place, firing a two-day 154 (79-75) at the David S. Ishii Foundation State Girls Golf Championships on the Big Island.
The Waimea High School softball team, seeded No. 2 in the Datahouse Softball State Championships, Division II, was cheated out of its bid for third place after weather forced the cancellation of the Menehune’s match against Waipahu, Friday, at the University of Hawai‘i Rainbow Wahine Stadium on O‘ahu.
But that did not stop Taylor “Kawehi” Ephan and Alyssa Jardin from being named to the Division II all-tournament team.
Waimea’s boys volleyball team leaves for O‘ahu this week where they are unseeded in the HHSAA New City Nissan Boys Volleyball State Championships, Division II.
Meanwhile, the KIF boys golfers will be on the Big Island at the 2011 David S. Ishii Foundation Golf Championships.
• Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@ thegardenisland.com.
