WAIPAHU, Oahu — Hilo High junior Kekaihulali Halpern placed first in the girls’ 5k during the Hawaii High School Athletic Association cross country state championship on Saturday at Central O‘ahu Regional Park.
Halpern finished at 19:25.56, nearly a minute faster the runner-up — Hanalani School junior Saige Miller (20:09.85) — leading the Vikings to a No. 5 finish in the DI team standings.
The conditions at the course were less than ideal, as smoke from the Mililani Mauka fire hung in the air — pushing the air quality index to an unhealthy 166 around the time of the race. According to the American Lung Association, running outdoors “may become risky” when air quality exceeds 150.
“When we were here (Friday), there was ash falling, ” Halpern told the Star-Advertiser. “The course is relatively flat and you get so much downhill, and you’re on pavement for the downhill. Especially compared to HPA on the Big Island — that’s a very hard course. This one is great.”
The state championship was Halpern’s final opportunity to secure a title this season. Halpern fell ill two weeks ago, and was unable to complete the BIIF championship race.
“The thing that (Halpern) was going up against the most was herself,” Hilo coach Bill McMahon said. “She had that stumbling block a week earlier, where she was ill and wasn’t able to complete the race. Something like that will always mess with you psyche.
“The thing that she needed to get past was the pre-race jitters. She just breathed and ran a little bit and warmed up, and said ‘I feel a lot better.’ And when she felt good, she had most of her old self back. That’s what I saw.”
BIIF individual girls champion Elisa Childers, of Kealakehe High, placed No. 7 at 20:35.66 — but the Waveriders did not compete as a team.
The next highest-placing Hilo runner was twin sister Kekaimalino Halpern, who placed No. 18 at 21:30.55.
The Vikings scored 133 — trailing No. 4 KS-Kapalama’s 117, No. 3 Kalaheo High’s 111 No. 2 ‘Iolani School’s 77 and No. 1 Punahou School’s 65. Alongside the Halpern twins were Hilo’s Maya Schneider, Titahni Ka‘awaloa, Noelani Moleni, Page Saguid and Zoe Aoki.
“They did fantastic,” McMahon said. “The schools that were in front of us were powerhouses.
“They performed well at that big stage, they came through when everybody was there — I was very happy about that. I’m very happy too that my whole team is coming back next year, no one is graduating.”
BIIF DI girls team champion Waiakea High — Sri Butz, Shanay Ha‘a, Camila Megargel, Nova Stickley, Priscilla Mow, Malia Hill and Jamie Labasan — placed No. 8 in DI, scoring 195. Butz led the Warriors at No. 49, clocking 22:34.23.
In DII on the girls’ side , BIIF team champion Hawai‘i Prep — Tiffany Ravaglia, Wynter Radey-Morgan, Naomi Demille, Rosey Wawner, Bella Dadzie, Johna Sejati and Tea Kasumovich — placed No. 3, scoring 69. Ravaglia placed No. 35 at 22:14.63 to lead Ka Makani. Radey-Morgan was close behind, placing No. 36 at 22:19.28.
Kamehameha Schools – Hawai‘i — Peyton Botelho, Mia Ayat, Kaydee-Rae Ah Yo, Vivianlee Kau, Kerilyn Wise, Alyssa Hudman and Layla Masaoka — scored 186 to place No. 8 in DII.
Boys
On the boys’ side, Waiakea and HPA each notched No. 3 finishes in their respective divisions.
The Warriors scored 111, behind No. 2 Mililani High’s 58 and No. 1 ‘Iolani’s 42. Waiakea edged Punahou, receiving the same score but placing higher due to its top two runners — Shane Tominaga and Austin Mohica — finishing among the top eleven.
Tominaga, the BIIF individual boys champion, placed No. 9 at 17:12.11. Mohica was close behind at No. 11, clocking in at 17:19.80. The rest of Waiakea’s team consisted of Sebastian Ortiz-Bloom, Henry Huovinen, Rogelio (Ito) Doratt, Kiran Letawsky and Carlos Soto Centeno.
Hilo’s Nathan Hock placed No. 17 at 17:36.04. As a team, the Vikings’ boys — Nathan Hock, Henry Hock, Rancin Teeples, Tai Hess and River Flynn — placed No. 11 in DI, scoring 253.
Mickey Petras led HPA, placing No. 43 at 18:12.70. Ka Makani’s other runners were Jack Soon-Ludes, Luca Kasumovich, Nicholas Pigotti, Edward Lustik, Zachary Montgomery and Zane Van Natta.
Parker School — Takumi Wetherell, Tobias Gordon, Kai Garcia-Tobar, Noah Nikolai and Elwin Shotts — was the BIIF’s second DII entry, and placed No. 7 with a score of 149.