PUHI — Ronnie Perono and Joshua Cram lost little time asserting the Kapa‘a High School boys cross country team, and the Waimea High School girls pushed to the top Saturday during the Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation cross country championships. With no
PUHI — Ronnie Perono and Joshua Cram lost little time asserting the Kapa‘a High School boys cross country team, and the Waimea High School girls pushed to the top Saturday during the Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation cross country championships.
With no school having a clear-cut advantage heading into the Saturday race, the KIF champions were determined by the team who won the Saturday race.
“It’s all up to the runners, now,” said Kaua‘i High School coach Richard Matsumoto Friday night at the KIF volleyball games. “You can give them advice, you can coach them, but now, it’s all up to them. We can only watch.”
The Kaua‘i boys team held a mere one-point advantage over the Kapa‘a boys heading into the Saturday race, and the Kaua‘i girls were tied with Waimea.
“It was the hottest meet of the season,” said Basil Scott, the KIF scorekeeper and timer. “The temperature index was about 105 degrees for the girls and climbed to 110 degrees for the boys’ race. There were no medical issues, but that much heat slows down runners toward the end of the race. The kids did great to put out such competitive performances on such a hot day.”
Kapa‘a boys locked up the KIF championship with 34 points to Kaua‘i’s 58 points, a scant five points ahead of Waimea’s 63 points, the Menehune men placing just two points ahead of Island School’s 65 points.
On the girls’ course, Kaua‘i girls, entering the race tied for the top spot, finished third as the Menehune girls tallied 38 points over Kapa‘a who placed second at 47 points, five points ahead of Kaua‘i who posted 52 points, and the Island School team with 85 points.
Boys Race
Joshua Herr of Kaua‘i rebounded from his bout with the cold bug last week, jumping out to a quick lead and holding the top spot throughout the three-mile course, stopping the clock at 16:57.10, just a tad shy of his best season run of 16:50.00, but almost two minutes ahead of Perono, the second overall finisher and first for Kapa‘a who stopped the clock at 18:52.80.
Cram dogged Perono’s shadow, slipping across at third overall and second for Kapa‘a at 18:57.30, giving Kapa‘a a 5-point standing following its second finisher.
What followed was a series of blocking and positioning as Eric Potter of Island School filled in the No. 4 overall spot at 18:59.60.
Mickey Rita of Waimea (19:08.20), starting the KIF cross country season with as high as a second overall finish, filled in the No. 5 spot followed by Micah-Kamuela Nobriga-Ferris (19:11.50) nailing the Kapa‘a win in the No. 6 overall spot.
Kellan Wortman (19:17.30) of Island School filled in the No. 7 overall spot before Kaua‘i’s second runner, Kainoa Matsumoto (19:32.90) crossed the line eighth overall.
But the effort came up short for the Kaua‘i boys as Henry Delos Reyes (19:44.80) and Bradly Lumabao (19:47.20), both of Waimea rounded out the top 10 finishers.
Joining Kapa‘a boys’ top three finishers, Henry Tanner (19:55.80, 11th) and Eli Lluellen (19:58.20) make up the scoring team who will be joined by Kaua‘i’s Herr, Island School’s Potter, Waimea’s Mickey Rita and Island School’s Wortmann at the Honolulu Marathon Hawai‘i High School Athletic Association Cross Country 2012 Championships, Oct. 26 at the Hawai‘i Preparatory Academy course on the Big Island.
Girls Race
Joy Claypoole of Island School set the pace for the girls’ field, stopping the clock at 20:01.00, just a tick off a sub-20 run in the rapidly warming, slightly humid conditions.
Krista Schnackenberg, companion running with Heidi Herr through the first two miles, pulled ahead in the final mile to cross second overall at 21:12.30, the first Kaua‘i finisher followed by Kapa‘a’s first finisher, Cassie Wilson (21:33.40), who was strong throughout the KIF season in the top five spots.
The first of the Waimea volleyball girls, Talia Young, playing No. 3 middle against Kaua‘i, Friday night, crossed fourth overall on a 21:43.60 run followed by Heidi Herr (21:59.10) getting the second Kaua‘i finish at the No. 5 spot.
Kaycee SanAgustine-Nordmeier, the Menehune libero in Friday night’s game, crossed sixth overall at 22:22.70 for Waimea’s second finisher followed by Menehune tennis standout Lani Rae Green (22:47.80) filling in the seventh overall spot to pull Waimea into the lead as Kaua‘i’s third runner, Cascade Mayer (23:46.10) crossed the line 12th overall.
Ahead of Mayer, Kapa‘a’s Kekai Gonsalves (23:27.80), to the thrill of her mother, jumped to the No. 9 position, an improvement over her No. 10 spot during the season.
“This is her personal best,” Kekai’s mother said, excitedly running to the end of the finish chute. “This is not bad for someone who had to recover from ACL surgery.”
Coral Vernon (23:38.90) and Camilla Vernon (23:42.00), both of Kapa‘a and filling in the No. 10 and 11 positions, respectively, put the race out of reach for Kaua‘i whose No. 4 runner, Hayley Walcher (24:34.00) crossed in the No. 16 position.
Joining Waimea’s top three finishers, Bailey SanAgustine-Nordmeier, the Menehune’s volleyball setter, crossed at 23:03.20 in eighth place followed by Sienna Santiago (24:05.40) crossing at the No. 13 spot, just 21 seconds ahead of Kapa‘a’s Casey Nakamura (24:24.40), the daughter of Kaua‘i County Council member Nadine Nakamura who was thrilled to be able to see her daughter finish strong before having to rush off for the opening of the 27th Annual Matsuri festival at the Kaua‘i War Memorial Convention Hall.
Joining the Menehune girls team, Claypoole of Island School, Krista Schnackenberg of Kaua‘i, Wilson of Kapa‘a and Heidi Herr, joining her brother Joshua of Kaua‘i will be making the trip to the HPA course, Oct. 26.
• Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@ thegardenisland.com.
