LIHUE — Kauai High School senior Taegan Keep is getting it Thursday during the Kauai Interscholastic Federation qualifying track meet at Vidinha Stadium. Keep, who was the sole state auto qualifier in the girls discus with a throw of more
LIHUE — Kauai High School senior Taegan Keep is getting it Thursday during the Kauai Interscholastic Federation qualifying track meet at Vidinha Stadium.
Keep, who was the sole state auto qualifier in the girls discus with a throw of more than 124 feet, standing, said her goal was to learn to spin.
Her second attempt during the KIF qualifying track meet, No. 2, saw the senior go through the motions of spinning before release, her best throw coming in the mid-90-feet range, but surpassing the state consideration standard of 95 feet, 5 inches.
Keep’s throw surpassed the state auto qualifying standard by more than two inches at 111-08.5, becoming the sole KIF athlete to mark auto state marks.
She continued her evening by picking up a consideration placement of 32-11.75 in the shot put, becoming one of 12 girls consideration marks at the track and field meet which opened under humid conditions.
Her teammate, Bronwyn Kay, pocketed three consideration marks with a first place and two second-place finishes.
Kay’s first-place finish came in the 300 meter hurdles where she finished on a 50.84 run, a .13-second surge past Waimea’s Monique Joy Lorenzo (50.97) who also ended with a consideration spot.
Kay was strong in the start of the 100 meter hurdles, staying ahead of Kapaa’s Brianna Binder and Lorenzo through all of the hurdles. But Binder landed first on the final hurdle and surged ahead on the short sprint to the finish line, earning a state consideration on her 17.13 run. Kay (17.26) and Lorenzo (17.72) also earned consideration marks on their second and third finishes, respectively.
Kay also took a consideration mark home in the long jump where she ended second on a 15-10.00 leap to Island School’s Wailea Edwards (15-11.00) who also earned a consideration mark.
Fellow Red Raider Britney Ehia, showing strong during the KIF meet, No. 2, pocketed a state consideration 4-10 in her first finish showing in the high jump.
Richard Matsumoto, of the Kauai coaching staff, said during the Velasco Invitational meet at the new Radford High School track on Oahu last week, Kapaa’s Heather Faretta, who dropped first in the high jump to Ehia on number of jumps, cleared 5-02 in the high jump, a state auto standard, and less than an inch off the KIF record in the event.
Faretta finished the Velasco Invite with a 63.19 run in the 400 meter run, a state consideration time and close to the KIF record in the event.
Matsumoto said the Kauai 4 x 400 relay team of Kristin Chun, Ehia, Mia Takekuma, and Stacie Schnackenberg crossed the line on Oahu at 4:20.67 — a state consideration run and better than the 4:21.64 KIF record set in 2015 by Kauai athletes Jordan Ganam, Krista Schnackenberg, Chun and Stacie Schnackenberg.
On the boys’ arena, Island School senior Kilikai Ahuna set the pace, picking up four of the eight consideration marks, including the 110 meter hurdles (16.23), the 300 meter hurdles (42.16), and topping the long jump on a leap of 20-02.00. Ahuna, who also is part of the strong Voyager volleyball team, pocketed his fourth consideration mark in the triple jump where he marked 39-05.00, third below Waimea’s Dylan Balaan (39-11.00) and Kapaa’s Rafael Roslin (39-10.00).
Kauai’s Mark Tabalbag topped the high jump with a state consideration 5-10.00, and Kapaa’s Boys 4 x 100 Relay ended first on a state consideration 46.75 run.
The next KIF qualifying meet will convene on March 30 starting at 4:30 p.m. at Vidinha Stadium. There is no admission to view the events during the qualifying and the Rotary Meet. Admission will be charged during the KIF track and field finals on April 28.
