Hilo’s Hunter holds off the field to win race

HILO — For Hilo’s Stephen Hunter, it wasn’t a pretty win during the Big Island Interscholastic Federation all-schools cross-country three-mile meet on Saturday at Waiakea.

Hunter, a junior, captured his first BIIF harrier race but needed to pause just prior to the finish line to let go of his breakfast.

The regurgitation around 30 yards from the finish nearly allowed home-crowd favorite Ian McQuate to close the gap. Hunter crossed the finish line in 17 minutes, 40.43 seconds, just ahead of McQuate’s 17:48.95.

“I was just trying to beat Andrew (Langtry),” Hunter said. “We try to push each other during practice, and I don’t normally beat him in a race.”

During the race, Hunter formed a small pack with three other runners — St. Joseph’s Langtry, Parker’s Paul Gregg and Waiakea’s McQuate.

“I was running scared; it helped me run better,” Hunter said. “It was a little harder to breathe when I lost my breakfast on the course.”

The pause allowed the host Warriors’ McQuate to make up valuable time which almost led to having a new boys winner in the BIIF cross-country season.

“I was more motivated today, this being my home course,” McQuate said. “Towards the end I was definitely thinking I could win this.”

Still, for McQuate it was his highest finish in a regular season cross-country meet.

“I started my kick too late, and my push didn’t have enough at the end,” he said.

Gregg, who remains one of the most consistent runners in the BIIF finishing in the top four, came up a little short again at Waiakea.

The senior began his race content to follow the leaders on the rolling hills of the course and started off in a small pack.

“It was hot this morning, and today I wasn’t looking to make this my best race of the season,” Gregg said. “I accomplished one of my goals in beating Langtry (fourth overall).

“I’m happy where I’m at right now, and the only race I really want to win is the BIIF championships on HPA’s course.”

In the boys team standings, 13 points separated first though fourth place with Kamehameha-Hawaii (78), Honokaa (80), Hilo (82) and Hawaii Prep (91) battling to the finish.

In the girls’ three-mile race, HPA’s Kristiana Van Pernis (20:20) claimed her first BIIF title this season

“The game plan was to run and run fast while having fun doing it,” Van Pernis.

Van Pernis, a junior, took the lead for good on the downhill portion of the course, around the 2.5-mile mark, and just pulled away from her competitors.

For HPA coach Michael Franklin, missing one of his better runners didn’t even faze him.

“Zoe (Sims) is out on an official visit to Princeton,” he said. “I just try to teach our girls to always run happy and to have confidence and humility. I’m more proud of being a teacher and dorm parent.”

Second in the race was another Ka Makani runner in Mariah Haight, another junior.

“It was really fun, and I felt good,” Haight said. “I like the Waiakea course. It is really flat compared to ours, and all our times are a lot faster.”

For Haight, following her coach’s direction becomes second nature.

“He just told us to keep up with the Hilo girls, Mehana and Carmen,” she said. “He wanted us to go fast and have fun. I love this course, but not as much as HPA’s where we have lots of group support and we know it well.”

For Hilo’s Mehana Sabado-Halpern, who won her first BIIF last week, this time it was a second-place finish.

“It was really hot out there, which made for slow times,” Sabado-Halpern said. “I am still happy with the outcome because I tried my hardest, and that is all I can do.”

The Viking is quick to point out that although Van Pernis and she are competitors they are bonded together.

In the girls team standings, it was HPA winning with 29 points, followed by Hilo with 54 and Kamehameha-Hawaii with 63.

The BIIF season continues Saturday with an all-schools meet at HPA, starting at 10 a.m.