The 2024 Honolulu Marathon Cross Country Championships were held Saturday morning at Maui’s Keopoulani Park, and 53 boys and 48 girls represented the Big Island Interscholastic Federation (BIIF).
But nobody shined brighter than the Hawaii Preparatory Academy girls, whose star-studded team of Kirra Geesey, Delphine Fanelsa, Wynter Radey-Morgan, Rosey Wawner, Tiffany Ravaglia, Kate Schwarting and Naomi Demille took home the Division II state title with 43 collective points. Ka Makani bounced back big after finishing third overall a year ago.
“We came into states hungry, but humble,” head coach Sierra Huebert-Sanchez told West Hawaii Today. “We wanted to win, but didn’t expect to. We knew every single runner had to give their best race. I didn’t put any pressure on them, though. I told them to trust their training, and sure enough, it paid off. I am so proud of the girls for all of their hard work.
“I asked a lot from them this season, and they rose to the occasion every time.”
Geesey was HPA’s top individual runner, racing the 5k in 20:19.76 — placing 14th overall in the DI and DII rankings. Geesey was the BIIF DII’s top finisher.
Fanelsa finished right behind Geesey in 17th, running in 20:84.33. Radey-Morgan (21:12.61) and Wawner (21:35.16) rounded out the top 50 for Ka Makani.
HPA capped off an incredible year after clinching the girls DII BIIF title on Oct. 26. Huebert-Sanchez admitted that the team’s senior-meet loss to Seabury on Oct. 4 motivated the group to reach new heights.
“On the first day of practice, we had 36 girls show up. This was the most we’ve ever had, and half the team was new, so we had no idea what to expect,” Huebert-Sanchez continued. “However, we quickly realized that we had something special. The girls were all dedicated to our training program, which naturally resulted in great success. We started winning all of the races, but our senior meet where Seabury flew in from Maui and beat us was humbling. It gave our girls the fire to take our training to the next level. We took it personally and and ramped things up even more. We had our goal for redemption, and we worked hard to achieve that.
“I want to thank my wonderful coaching staff, Casey Trautwein and Karla Brundage. Without them, we would not have had the season we did.”
Huebert-Sanchez also credited former HPA coach Kimo Higgins for laying the foundation for the successful program.
“He coached girls cross country for many years and created the foundation of the program we have today. Our state championship is his legacy!”
Kamehameha Schools-Hawai‘i girls finished sixth in the DII competition, as the Warriors’ speedsters of Peyton Botelho, Aisyss Respicio-Ragoco, Kerilyn Wise, Kaydee-Rae Ah Yo and Layla Masaoka tallied 148 points.
In the Division I girls competition, Kealakehe’s team of Elisa Childers, Zadie Bolton, Lily Marshall, Gracie Anderle, Audrey Montgomery, Gabrielle-Joy Childers and Shaylee Clark totaled 134 points. Childers, who was one of the BIIF’s top runners all season, placed eighth overall in the 5k in 19:24.91 to lead the Waveriders. Bolton placed 10th in 20:01.05.
The Hilo girls team of Kekaihulali Halpern, Kekaimalino Halpern, Noelani Moleni, Zoe Aoki, Mercy Dunn and Stephanie Hirowatori placed ninth overall in the DI field with 223 points.
Kekaihulali Halpern, who dominated the BIIF all season with five individual first-place finishes, was the top overall Big Isle girls finisher in 18:31.22 — placing third overall. Kekaimalino Halpern was the Vikings’ next-best finisher, placing 24th with a 20:48.38 time.
Fellow Hilo-side school Waiakea placed 11th in the girls DI team results — as Shannon Eckert, Sri Butz, Camila Megargel, Katalina Doratt, Nova Stickley and Charley Brown collected 237 points for the day. The freshman Eckert was the Warriors’ top producer, placing 22nd overall in 20:45.35.
Boys
The Waiakea boys team of Shane Tominaga, Austin Mohica, Isaac Keana‘aina, Lenx Neves, Henry Huovinen, Carlos Soto Centeno and Kai Brittain placed fifth overall in the boys DI competition with 118 points. Tominaga was the BIIF boys’ top runner, racing in 16:46.75 to place eighth. The freshman Mohica placed right behind him in 13th (17:11.89).
Hilo’s team of Rancin Teeples, Tai Hess, Tavyn Buyuan, Malakai Keawe-Correa, Ryley Antonio, River Flynn and Denver Fukumori placed 13th in the team results with 354 points. Teeples was the team’s top performer in 108th place, running in 19:07.02.
Other top BIIF finishers among boys DI was Kealakehe’s Archer Ankrum, who finished 25th overall in 17:41.99.
In the DII field, HPA’s team of Philipp Gerstengarbe, Jack Soon-Ludes, Micah McDowell, Zane Van Natta, Chihiro Sato, Nicholas Pigotti and Edward Lustik placed third overall (85 points). Ka Makani also placed No. 3 in 2023. Gerstengarbe (39th; 17:59.59) and Soon-Ludes (43rd; 18:02.07) were HPA’s top runners in the podium finish.
KSH’s squad of Kalamakua Buckley Francis, Brayden Tamura, Kaleb Padaken, Judah Kanoa,Tyler Tina and Jack Henderson placed fifth overall (101 points), while Parker’s group of Toby Gordan, Takumi Wetherell, Kai Garcia-Tobar, Noah Nikolai, Mikaela Caverly and David O’Dell finished behind the Warriors in sixth (123 points).
State winners
The following teams took home Division I and II state titles. See HHSAA’s website to view the full individual and team results:
• Girls DI: Radford – 81 points
• Girls DII: HPA – 43 points
• Boys DI: Iolani – 68 points
• Boys DII: Hawaii Baptist – 39 points