LIHUE — With the Kauai Interscholastic Federation track and field finals beginning Thursday at Vidinha Stadium, KIF athletes took advantage of southerly winds in a humid stadium to hone themselves in preparation for the finals. Although no auto state standards
LIHUE — With the Kauai Interscholastic Federation track and field finals beginning Thursday at Vidinha Stadium, KIF athletes took advantage of southerly winds in a humid stadium to hone themselves in preparation for the finals.
Although no auto state standards were secured, the excitement was not diminished as the re-appearance of Kauai High School’s Jordan Ganam added fire to the sprints.
Ganam secured two consideration times, one in the 100 meter dash where she finished first on a 13.20 second run, edging out teammate Kailee Arakaki (13.33) by .13. Both finishes were consideration runs.
She continued to churn the field, ending second to teammate Britney Ehia in the 200 meter dash, where she stopped the clock at 27.76, just a mere .05 slower than Ehia’s 27.71 run. Both finishes earned consideration standards.
But the day did not end there as Ganam ran the opening leg of the girls 4×100 relay, juggling the baton to Ehia en route to the team’s 54.32 run, another state consideration.
Carolyn Price of Island School picked up her consideration time in the 3,000 meter run, stopping the clock at 11:43.65, and Kauai’s Natalie Nishioka continued to work on her hurdles, getting strong competition from Waimea’s Monique Joy Lorenzo.
During the 100 meter hurdles, Nishioka pocketed a consideration run at 17.05 for first place followed by Lorenzo at 17.23, another consideration run. The order flip-flopped in the 300 meter hurdles, when Lorenzo stopped the clock at 51.14 over Nishioka’s 51.25 run, both earning consideration nods.
Kapaa High School girls entered the consideration arena with its first-place finish in the girls 4×400 meter relay, stopping the clock at 4:35.93, more than a second ahead of the Island School team.
The humid conditions took its toll in the high jump pit where the three contenders, Heather Faretta of Kapaa, Anaiah Christensen and Ehia of Kauai, were challenged by Anne Cushnie of Island School. Although no consideration jumps were attained by any of the jumpers, Faretta and Ehia tied at 4 feet, 9 inches. Christensen and Cushnie finished in a tie an inch back at 4-08.
Allison Culliney of Island School picked up the Voyagers’ last consideration nod, topping the triple jump on a leap of 33-01.
Waimea’s Tianalee Apilado said doing the shot put event was just side dressing. She topped that event on a throw of 29-08 for first place, but fell short of the consideration mark of 32-07.75.
Instead, Apilado was excited because she broke the 100-foot mark in the discus throw where she earned a consideration toss with her 105-06 for first place, exceeding the consideration mark of 93-06, a throw she surpassed throughout the qualifying series with throws in the high 90s.
“Finally, I broke 100,” Apilado said.
Michael Miller of Island School continued to lead the boys’ arena, earning consideration runs in the 1,500 meter run (4:23.73) and the 3,000 meter run (9:52.25).
Another Miller, Josh, unrelated to Michael, topped the 800 meter run at 2:06.88 for a consideration standard.
Waimea’s Henry Delos Reyes continued to work at perfection, first making his mark in the 300 meter hurdles with a first-place finish at 43.71 for a consideration run. He also ran the opening leg of the boys 4×100 meter relay that pocketed a consideration run with its first finish at 46.34, and closed the day with a third consideration, this time in the triple jump with a leap of 41-07.
The Kauai High School boys pocketed a consideration run in the 4×400 meter relay with a 3:48.54 run, and Junard Mata made the mark for Kapaa High School with his 5-08 leap in the high jump, a consideration standard.
“For many of the athletes, this is their final chance at running,” said Calvin Paleka of Kapaa. “We only get to submit three entries in each event for the finals and so, for many, this is the final event of the year.”
The KIF track finals start at 4:30 p.m. with the qualifier on Thursday at Vidinha Stadium. The finals will run at 4:30 p.m. Friday at Vidinha Stadium.
Due to the finals taking place, the KIF boys volleyball game scheduled for Friday will be pushed back to Saturday starting at 5 p.m. with the junior varsity matches.
