PUHI — Matthew Vickers of Island School stayed close to Kapaa’s Garret Smith off the starting gun Saturday during the Kauai Interscholastic Federation cross country championships that took off under cool, drizzly conditions at the Island School campus.
They were shadowed by Kauai’s Kane Casillas who spurted to the lead off the gun.
But by the time the runners hit the tree-lined uphill, Vickers had established his lead over Smith, who was running shoulder-to-shoulder with Casillas.
The lead stood until the final stretch when Vickers earned his first KIF cross country win by breaking the 18-minute mark for the three-mile course and stopping the clock at 17 minutes, 26.01 seconds.
“I knew he could win,” said the Island School coach, Dr. Eric Wortmann. “I didn’t expect him to win.”
The Island School boys continued Vickers’ lead, crossing its five scoring runners — Joshua Graves (4th), Elijah Ibbs (5th), Henry Scherer (6th) and James Pratt (7th) — to claim the team title for its second consecutive year, with 23 points.
“The support from the school and all the fans just kept me going,” Vickers said. “I didn’t know if I could do well. I was focusing on distance, but all that cheering just kept me moving.”
Casillas, finishing third overall below Smith, led the Kauai boys to second place with 46 points before teammates Jeremy Herr (8th), Jaheim Schoburgh (10th), Damon Johnson (12th) and Samuel Isaraelsen (13th). They earned berths to the Honolulu Marathon Hawaii High School Athletic Association cross country championships that will be held Saturday at the Central Oahu Recreational Park in Waipahu, Oahu.
“If you can’t make your goal, you go for the secondary goal — making state cuts,” said Fred Sasan, one of the Kauai coaches.
The Kapaa boys, led by Smith’s second overall finish, ended in third with 53 points, followed by Waimea with 104 points.
“I made it,” said Waimea runner Samatha Bostick, who finished just out of the top 10 girls’ finishers. “I’m going to states. That was my goal today — make states.”
Bostick is the sole Menehune who will be running in Waipahu after finishing 11th overall in a time of 23 minutes, 22:42 seconds.
Island School controlled the top spots of the girls’ race, with Ella Beck and Jaden DeSouza running shoulder-to-shoulder until the final mile, when DeSouza pulled out all the stops and surged ahead to cross first at 20:31.55, more than 20 ticks ahead of Beck.
“I really didn’t have anything planned other than stay close to Ella,” DeSouza said. “I’ve been having some bad shin splints so I didn’t expect to do this well.”
Hot on the pair’s heels, Kauai’s Molly Middlebrook (3rd, 21:20.45) set the pace for the Red Raiders, who finished by taking the team championship with 39 points — just three points ahead of Island School’s 42 points.
“We just don’t have that fifth runner,” Wortmann said. “We had four of our girls in the top 10.”
Island School girls were leading Kauai 20 to 25 points with four runners across the line until Kauai’s fifth runner, Mia Matsunaga, locked the win in 14th place on a 23:59.84 run. Island School’s fifth runner crossed the line in 28th overall.
Kapaa, led by Juliana Tampus in third overall, finished third with 50 points, followed by Waimea with 100 points.
Wortmann, who has coached the Voyagers for the nine years, said he was proud that the Voyagers had claimed the top individualist spot for girls in eight of those nine years. It’s also the second straight year the Voyager boys claimed the boys team title.
“It’s the kids,” he said. “They work hard in practice, but always have fun. It’s a happy family.”
Results
Girls (top 15): Jaden DeSouza (IS 20:31.55), Ella Beck (IS 20:52.23), Molly Middlebrook (Kau 21:20.45), Juliana Tampus (Kap 21:37.94), Mia Takekuma (Kau 22:08.52), Jessica Drent (Kap 22:34.40), Olivia Lutkevich (IS 22:46.47), Nicole Matsushige (Kau 22:57.73), Malia Splittstoesser (Kau 23:07.20), Emma Thain (IS 23:17.73), Samantha Bostick (Wai 23:22.42), Victoria Hennessy (Kap 23:23.26), Kinohi Naihe (Kap 23:55.15), Mia Matsunaga (Kau 23:59.84), Coral Haeger (Kap 24:24.02).
Boys (top 15): Matthew Vickers (IS 17:26.01), Garret Smith (Kap 18:08.32), Kane Casillas (Kau 18:10.19), Joshua Graves (IS 18:23.54), Elijah Ibbs (IS 19:04.21), Henry Scherer (IS 19:12.81), James Pratt (IS 19:12.81), Jeremy Herr (Kau 19:34.95), Sage Iona (Kap 19:45.79), Jaheim Schoburgh (Kau 19:48.02), Alakai Gonsalves (Kap 19:51.20), Damon Johnson (Kau 19:53.30), Samuel Isaraelson (Kau 19:53.62), Keon Orlando (Kap 19:58.95), Caleb Brown (IS 20:10.68).
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
