It was indeed a field day for the BIIF on Maui – Kaui Taylor, Meagan Kualii and Mehana Sabado-Halpern made sure of that.
Emma Taylor held up her end of the bargain again in the hurdles and distance runner Louie Ondo also won gold on a good day for the BIIF at the HHSAA track and field championships.
Hawaii Prep’s Emma Taylor now owns five state hurdling titles after she twice bested Iolani’s Lindsey Combs as the wind gusted at War Memorial Stadium. In the 100, Taylor edged her friendly rival by three one-hundredths of a second, winning in 14.63 seconds to threepeat in the event.
“There is definitely a lot of pressure to repeat, but I’m always chasing Lindsey and trying to get better,” Taylor said by phone.
The two were neck and neck after the last hurdle.
“I leaned with my chest, she leaned with her head,” Taylor said.
She won the 300 in 44.26, conquering a race she calls “hellish” for the second consecutive year.
How does she make it look so easy?
“I imagine I’m running 400, and 300 doesn’t seem so bad,” Taylor said.
She’s not the only Taylor cousin to own state gold after Kaui Taylor won the high jump by clearing 5 feet, 4 inches, a personal best she’d been trying to reach for weeks.
“I had a great cheering section: My headmaster, my athletic director and my coach,” she said. “After each jump I would go over and feel their support.”
Kaiser’s Teuila Gardner also reached 5-4, but Taylor did it on an earlier attempt.
Both Taylors are part of Ka Makani’s two-time state soccer championship team.
“It’s a different feeling, but still amazing,” Kaui Taylor said.
The cousins helped Ka Makani finish second behind Kaiser, which became the first public-school champion since 1994.
Hilo Sabado-Halpern, Waiakea’s Ondo and Kamehameha-Hawaii’s Meagan Kualii each pocketed their first golds.
In a battle of the state’s two best triple jumpers all season long, Sabado-Halpern, a senior, took gold with a leap of 37-6 while Kealakehe’s Nicole Cristobal, a sophomore, went home with silver.
Kualii’s effort of 18-6.5 in Friday’s trials held up in the long jump. Kualii, a senior, just missed bronze in the triple jump, finishing fourth .
Ondo, a junior, won the 1,500 in 4:04.01, finishing more than four seconds ahead of Kamehameha-Kapalama’s Kaeo Kruse, a two-time winner in the 3,000.
HPA senior Ula Brostek won silver in the shot put (39-08.50), while Kealakehe’s Alysa Gamache (100) and Keaau’s Jeffery Farrell (800) delivered bronze.
On Friday, Waiakea’s Monique Apuakehau cleared 11-6 in the pole vault, good enough for second.
Keaau and Waiakea tied for 14th in a boys race that saw Kamehameha-Kapalama repeat.
Special Olympics made its debut at state track, and a Waiakea mixed team fared well, taking third in the 1,600 relay.
