WAILUKU, Maui — Joe Locey, a junior at Kapa‘a High School fell in love with the Yamamoto Track when he went to compete in the 51st Annual Satoki Yamamoto Invitational Track Meet held on Maui March 27-28. Locey left not
WAILUKU, Maui — Joe Locey, a junior at Kapa‘a High School fell in love with the Yamamoto Track when he went to compete in the 51st Annual Satoki Yamamoto Invitational Track Meet held on Maui March 27-28.
Locey left not expecting much, he said, but after performing on the rubberized surface at the Yamamoto Track & Field Facility where he won the Boys 100 and 200 meter races, he is in love with the surface.
“We can invite the outer-island schools, and let them spend their money here,” Locey said, believing that a rubberized (fast) track on Kaua‘i will eventually help boost the economy on this island.
Locey, who is used to running on the dirt in Kapa‘a, and the loose gravel at Vidinha Stadium, said “a synthetic track would bring the best here to our island to compete, then they’ll see how much more talented athletes we have here on Kaua‘i.”
“It’s so hard for our athletes to qualify for the state meet, running on dirt. It’s not fair,” Locey said.
Locey’s sentiments were echoed by Jim Rosa whose son Mario, a long distance runner, also went to Maui to compete and hopefully qualify for a state time utilizing the rubberized surface there.
Vidinha Stadium is considered by many as a “slow track” due to its gravel surface. After performing on Maui, Locey can’t wait until the rubberized track gets laid down at Vidinha.
Locey impressed many Mauians at the Friday trials, recording two of the state’s top marks this season — 10.99 seconds in the 100 meter, and 22.19 in the 200 meter. Both times are fully automatic times (FAT), and equivalent to a hand-timed 10.7 and 21.9 seconds respectively.
Advancing to the finals, Locey won both events, beating Baldwin sophomore Jensen Somera on each event with finals timing of 11:04 for the 100 meter, and 22:25 for the 200 meter. Somera held one of the state’s fastest times in both of these events prior to meeting Locey.
Richard Matsumoto, one of the coaches for Kaua‘i High School who also attended the meet, said, “Nobody was even close to him at the finish, and I have the video tape to prove it. Maui is usually where the best sprinters are.”
“I really didn’t know what to expect,” Locey said. “I wasn’t really expecting a lot. But, I’m happy I went over to Maui, and I’m pleased with my times.”
Many longtime track experts who saw Locey’s races on Maui commented that as dominating as he was in both of his wins, they believe that Locey’s best event is the 400 meters, and he should dominate that race.
If Locey is fortunate enough to qualify and win the 400 meter race along with the 100 and 200 meter events at the state championships to be held May 13-15, he would accomplish what no other male athlete has done in Hawai‘i in about 20 years —winning the triple crown gold medals.
Matsumoto said, “There is no guarantee, but I think Joe will win the 100 and 200 at the state track meet this year, barring injuries or academic issues.”
Both marks in the 100 and 200 meters are personal bests for Locey who ran with a starting block and quarter-inch spikes for the first time on a synthetic track.
Mario Rosa of Island School also won gold in the boys 1500 meter run at the Yamamoto Invitationals, beating out the premier distance runner in the state, Kainoa Guerin of Baldwin High. Rosa’s time was 4:27.77, a personal best for that distance. Rosa also placed fifth in the boys 3000 meter run with a 10:36.38.
Freshman Chelsea Smith-Wishard of Kaua‘i High School won gold in the girls 3000 meter run with a 12:14.03. Smith-Wishard also placed second in the finals of the girls 1500 meter run with a time of 5:23.63.
Robyn Arrington of Waimea High School drew the attention out to the westside in winning the girls Triple Jump with a 32’1/2″ leap. Arrington also placed ninth in the finals for the girls high jump with a height of 4’2.” On the track, Arrington took fifth in the finals for the girls 300 meter low hurdles with a time of 53.67.
Rounding out the rest of the finishing times, heights and distances are:
Christopher Hoffman of Island School with a personal best of 04:39.00 in the boys 1500 meter run, took 8th in the finals and also placing 9th in the finals for the boys 3000 meter run with a time of 11:08.80.
Elysse Sato of Waimea High School with a Long jump of 12’5 1¼2″, placed 7th in the finals. Elysse then took 5th in the finals in the girls triple jump with a jump of 29’4 1¼2″. Finally, Sato took 5th in the finals for the girls 100 meter dash with a time of 13.43 seconds.
Kevin Cadiente of Kaua‘i High School placed 4th in the finals in the boys 400 meter dash with a time of 54.80 seconds. Cadiente also placed 5th in the finals of the boys 200 meter dash with a time of 24.32 seconds.
Shauna Tachibana of Kaua‘i High School placed 5th in the girls 200 meter dash final with a time of 28.66 seconds.
Frank Speetjens of Kaua‘i High School placed 6th in the finals of the boys 3000 meter run with a time of 10:39.49.
Kelly Ching of Kaua‘i High School placed 12th in the finals of the boys 3000 meter run with a time of 11:32.52.
Jared Fukushima of Kaua‘i High School placed 13th in the finals of the boys 3000 meter run with a time of 11:33.55.
The next track meet scheduled back here at Vidinha Stadium is slated for Saturday, Apr. 10, with the Rotary track meet on Apr. 14.
