LIHUE — Kauai Interscholastic Federation student-athletes continued to pick up state qualifying standards while the field was being whittled down ahead of the KIF Championships Friday starting at 4 p.m. at Vidinha Stadium. Kapaa’s Heather Faretta picked up two state
LIHUE — Kauai Interscholastic Federation student-athletes continued to pick up state qualifying standards while the field was being whittled down ahead of the KIF Championships Friday starting at 4 p.m. at Vidinha Stadium.
Kapaa’s Heather Faretta picked up two state standards, although not necessarily her best of the season, to lead the girls, while Island School’s Kilikai Ahuna picked up a pair of state standards — again, not necessarily his best performances — to lead the boys during the KIF Championship trials Thursday at Vidinha Stadium.
Faretta topped the girls 400-meter dash in 1 minute, 2.89 seconds, surpassing the state qualifying mark of 1:03.04, adding a leap of 5 feet in the girls high jump, edging out Kauai’s Britney Ehia at 4 feet, eight inches, and Island School’s Anne Cushnie, at 4 feet, six inches.
Wailea Edwards of Island School topped the girls triple jump on a leap of 33 feet, 5.5 inches, surpassing the state qualifying mark of 32 feet, 1 inches, and Kauai’s Taegan Keep tossed the discus for 114 feet, 2 inches, bettering her 113-foot toss two weeks ago. The state qualifying mark for girls discus is 99 feet, 8 inches.
“I know I got the state mark,” Keep said. “I want the KIF record during the championships.”
On the boys’ course, Ahuna made his mark in the boys 300-meter hurdles, stopping the clock on a 41.35-second run, bettering the state qualifying mark of 42.54 seconds, and leaped for 44 feet, 1.5 inches in the boys triple jump, easily surpassing the state qualifying mark of 40 feet, 2.75 inches.
Waimea’s Justin Fernandez picked up a state mark in the boys shot put, heaving the ball 46 feet, 5 inches, bettering the state qualifying mark of 43 feet, 9 inches, and fellow Menehune Terrence Kamaka-Riley picked up a state qualifying mark by tossing the discus 135 feet, 5.5 inches, bettering the state qualifying mark of 130 feet, 4 inches.
In the boys 200-meter dash, the top four runners — Madison Leanio (Kau), Kyle Liebow (IS), Justin Fune (Wai) and Knyll Ganotisi (Kau) — are within striking distance of the state qualifying mark of 11.44 seconds, all finishing in the 11-second range.
Similarly, Kapaa’s Edward Bernabe is less than 0.5 seconds away from making the state cut (23.34 seconds) with his first finish in the boys 200-meter dash (23.78 seconds), followed by Liebow at 23.93 seconds.
