LIHU‘E — A large contingent of Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation competitors all made it to the final round of events, Saturday night on Maui, as the Hawai‘i High School Athletic Association completed its Track and Field Championships. Island School’s Pierce Murphy
LIHU‘E — A large contingent of Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation competitors all made it to the final round of events, Saturday night on Maui, as the Hawai‘i High School Athletic Association completed its Track and Field Championships.
Island School’s Pierce Murphy pocketed a pair of gold medals, while setting two new meet records and Kaua‘i High School’s Darren Acoba grabbed gold in the 110 Meter Hurdles.
After Friday’s qualifying events, Murphy separated himself from the rest of the state Saturday, first in the 1,500 Meter Run, where he stopped the clock in 4 minutes, 1.92 seconds. That broke the previous meet record by 0.14 seconds, which he set, himself, at last year’s meet.
His time was almost a full 10 seconds ahead of second-place finisher Jordan Thibodeau of Kamehameha (4:11.66).
He then crushed the field in the 3,000 Meter Run, crossing the tape in 8:52.44 — almost 30 seconds ahead of Chris Mosch of Honoka‘a (9:21.11). The new record beat the 8:52.90 ran by Leilehua’s Bryce Jenkins in 2009.
Those two first-place finishes alone were enough to put Island School in the top 10 for Boys Team rankings, tied with two others for seventh place (20 points).
Acoba, a multi-sport star for the Raiders, took the gold in the 110 Meter Hurdles with a time of 14.85 seconds.
Second place went to Punahou’s Matt Feeley (15.00), third to Mid-Pacific Institute’s Daniel Wagner (15.06).
Acoba ran a 15.07 in Friday’s preliminary heat, then turned it up once he secured the spot in the final.
The KIF continued its run at top-three finishes in a big way, as Kapa‘a High School’s Kevin Marshall Adkisson took third place in the Boys Discus Throw. His final fling went 171 feet, 4 inches. The top three throwers were all within close proximity to one another, as Shane Brostek of Hawai‘i Prep took the gold (173’04”) and Lopeti Fonokalafi of Kaiser took silver (172’04”).
Kaua‘i High’s Kawehi Louis-Diamond wound with third place in the Girls 100 Meter Hurdles, her time of 15.09 seconds good for bronze.
Gold winner Zhane Santiago of Kahuku set the new meet record with 14.69 seconds.
Louis-Diamond then helped out the Kaua‘i Girls 4×100 Meter Relay team as the anchor, the Raider quartet taking third place in 49.98 seconds. Teammates Reanna Javinar, Chelsie Domingo and Kelsey Cadiente completed the team. First place went to Punahou (49.17).
Kapa‘a High School’s Kaylee Silva grabbed bronze in the Girls High Jump, leaping an even 5 feet, just two inches shy of first-place finisher Kalei Adolopho (5’02”) of Molokai.
Fellow Warrior Rachael Hinkel took fifth place in the Girls 300 Meter Hurdles, running 47.91 seconds. Konawaena’s Ua Ruedy won gold (45.38).
Cadiente was on her own for Kaua‘i in the Girls 100 Meter Dash and took fifth place in 12.59 seconds. The tightly contested heat was separated by less than half a second between first and seventh.
Winner Raion Black of Christian Academy ran in 12.28 seconds.
In the Girls 3,000 Meter Run, Island School’s Joy Claypoole finished in eighth place, running in 11 minutes, 21.86 seconds. Seabury Hall’s Dakota Grossman won the gold (10:42.53).
Back in the Boys 3,000 Meter Run, Kaua‘i High School’s Joshua Herr took eighth place, finishing in 9:43.50.
A number of additional KIF athletes were at War Memorial Stadium Friday night, competing in the preliminary events. Those who qualified for the top number of final positions, then continued in the medal round, Saturday.
For full track meet results, go to www.kautech.com/results/hhsaa2011/
