Wahine back and better than ever after 16-year layoff

Advertiser Staff

Casey McGuire-Turcotte came out of Na'alehu and into track and field's prime time yesterday, along with a University of Hawai'i Wahine team that came out of a 16-year hibernation.

In rainy, windy 40-degree California weather, the Wahine wrapped themselves in hotel blankets between events and swept the top two places in the first two events at the Bob Mathias Fresno Relays. McGuire-Turcotte won a heart-stopping 1,500-meter race, and all but three Wahine had career performances in the school's first meet since 1984.

Sarah McDiarmid started Hawai'i's surprisingly strong showing by setting a school record. Her high jump of 5-feet-8 bettered Marcie Wurts' 5-6 1/4, set 20 years ago. McDiarmid cleared all her heights on the first jump, before missing an NCAA-qualifying height of 5-10.

In the next event, UH cross country star Cheryl Smith won the 3,000 going away, with McGuire-Turcotte — a Hawai'i Prep graduate, taking second. Courtney Barlow was ninth as she and McGuire-Turcotte both beat their personal bests by a full minute.

McGuire-Turcotte got her gold medal in the afternoon. Running in the day's worst weather, she led the 1,500 until the final lap, was passed, then sprinted by her challenger in the final turn to win by 15 meters.

Two hours later, McGuire-Turcotte anchored the fifth-place 4x400 relay with a team-best split of 1:01.1. Carolyn Berger, Diane Kohara and Shayne Enright — all in their first collegiate meet — ran the first three legs. They beat their previous best by 18 seconds.

"I know Casey was nervous for the 3,000 because she had never run it on a track before," coach Carmyn James said. "So for her to come away with a one-minute personal best and come back later and win the 1,500 ... that was great. Then, to have that fast a (4x400) split is really impressive. It shows quite a range of talent."

McGuire-Turcotte and Kohara, who also had a personal best in the 400, have run together since the fourth grade on the Big Island.

Kimberly Higa, who set the Hawai'i high school record with a pole vault of 11 feet at last year's state meet, couldn't clear that height yesterday. After going over at 10-6, the Roosevelt graduate barely missed 11 feet on her next two attempts. The winners cleared 12-9 and Higa took seventh.

Throwers Diosa Hussey (Baldwin) and Jessie Moniz (Kamehameha) did not reach the qualifying distance in discus or shot put, but did have personal bests.

"It was a great first competition, really better than I expected," James said. "I was really impressed with their psychological approach. No one seemed to get frazzled."

The biggest surprise might have been the exceptionally cold weather, which was capped by thunder, lightning and hail last night. When the Wahine arrived for the 9:30 a.m. start, organizers were drying the track with squeegees. They huddled under a tree and bonded a bit more — something they hadn't had much time for before the road trip.

"We left the school at 5:30 a.m. (HST) Thursday and didn't get to the hotel until 12:30 a.m. (PDT)," James said. "They had bonded by then, I'll tell you. They were getting along quite well.

"Now, they are all full of smiles. I think they are quite proud of themselves."

College/Open Division Results

At Warmerdam Field

400-Meter Dash

• 1, Grayson-Reed, Jynette (FSU) 55.42
• 10, Kohara, Diane (Hawai'i) 1:01.60
• 14, Enright, Shayne (Hawai'i) 1:05.74

800-Meter Run

• 1, Hall, Jasmine (SLO) 2:14.30
• 5, Crumley, Jennifer (Hawai'i) 2:33.25
• 6, Bentley, Teryn (Hawai'i) 2:33.88

1,500-Meter Run

• 1, McGuire-Turcotte, Casey (UH) 4:41.83
• 4, Smith, Cheryl (Hawai'i) 4:49.98
• 9, Barlow, Courtney (Hawai'i) 5:08.75
• 11, Bentley, Teryn (Hawai'i) 5:13.62
• 12, Crumley, Jennifer (Hawai'i) 5:14.06
• 13, Keith, Brittany (Hawai'i) 5:14.12

3,000-Yard Run

• 1, Smith, Cheryl (Hawai'i) 9:53.69
• 2, McGuire-Turcotte, Casey (UH) 10:14.94
• 4, Barlow, Courtney (Hawai'i) 10:39.21
• 8, Keith, Brittany (Hawai'i) 11:08.49

4x100 Meter Relay

• 1, Fresno State 47.2
• 5, University of Hawai'i 51.92

4x400 Meter Relay

• 1, Fresno State 3:51.18
• 5, Hawai'i 4:13.77

High Jump

• 1, McDiarmid, Sarah (UH) 5-8.00
• 2, Smoody, Olivia (UH) 5-6.00
• 3, Bourgeois, Kaitlyn (SLO) 5-4.25

Pole Vault

• 1, Harrison, Ardin (Sky) 12-9
• 1, Lankard, Brooke (FSU) 12-9
• 7, Higa, Kimberly (UH) 10-6

Long Jump

• 1, Summers, D. (Davis) 18-8.00
• 8, Kaffka, Nicole (UH) 16-2.50