The Garden Isle has a repeat state champion.
Kauai High School senior Taegan Keep won a second consecutive gold medal in the girls discus event at the 2018 Island Movers Track &Field State Championships on Friday at the Kamehameha Schools-Kapalama campus on Oahu.
“Physically, I’m very tired right now because it’s been so hot. It’s been so hot today, but I’m feeling great about (being) back-to-back champ in discus. That was my goal,” Keep said in a phone interview Friday. “I didn’t throw as far as I wanted, but I threw just enough to take the title again. I feel good about what I’ve done.”
Keep won her second gold medal with a distance of 127 feet, 4 inches. She said her goal was at least 130 feet.
In the girls discus, Hilo High School’s Mele Vaka was second with 126 feet, and Aiea’s Leslie Mamai-Lagafuaina was third with 119 feet, 7 inches.
Keep won her first medal at last year’s state meet with a distance of 135 feet, 7 inches.
“Going in today, I was just trying to think positive. My main goal, for me, was to personally improve from what I’ve been throwing these last couple of weeks, and obviously win another state championship,” Keep said. “I was ranked No. 1 all this season. Going in, I felt pretty good. I felt confident.”
With her second state championship clinched, Keep said it’s been quite the three-year journey.
“I’ve only started discus throwing in sophomore year. In three year of track, winning two state championships, it just shows you can really do anything if you put work into it and set your mind to a specific goal,” she said. “I can’t believe how far I’ve come in discus throwing, going from not really knowing what it was freshman year to a two-time state champ.”
In other action at the state meet, Kapaa High School’s Zion Williams placed second in the boys long jump final with a distance of 21 feet, 1.25 inches. Punahou’s Andrei Iosivas was first with 23 feet, 3 inches, and Kealakehe’s Justyce Kahunahana-Simms was third with 20 feet, 10.5 inches.
In the girls high jump, Kauai’s Waileia Edwards placed sixth with a height of 4 feet, 10 inches. Kapaa’s Jaliyah Casem was 19th with a height of 4 feet, 8 inches. Kamehameha Schools-Maui’s Keely Logan won gold with a height of 5 feet, 1 inch.
Other results were not available by press time. The state meet concludes today at the KS-Kapalama campus.
Information from Hawaii High School Athletic Association.
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Nick Celario, sports writer, can be reached at 245-0437 or ncelario@thegardenisland.com.
