Iacovelli primed for great finish

By Wes Nakama
Advertiser Staff Writer

Punahou's Todd Iacovelli gave up his hoop dreams and became one of the state's top runners. Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser

And the state's top boys runner, Todd Iacovelli, may have been home perfecting his jump shot this week instead of preparing to distance himself from the pack at Kaua'i Community College.

Iacovelli, a Punahou senior, is the reigning two-time Interscholastic League of Honolulu individual champion and prohibitive favorite to win the Hawai'i High School Athletic Association meet on Saturday.

He has dominated the local competition so far this season, winning the ILH title last weekend by 35 seconds after he sped through a 3-mile course at Kamehameha in 16:06.

But until his freshman year, Iacovelli's passion was basketball, and his participation in cross country developed only by accident.

"I was looking for a sport to get me in shape for basketball, so I was going to play volleyball," Iacovelli said. "I made it through (tryouts) until just before the final cut, and then my friend who ran cross country said he wanted to play volleyball instead. So he said, 'Why don't you run cross country and I'll play volleyball?'"

In an odd agreement, the two freshmen swapped places. And after Iacovelli ran his first race in 21 minutes, he was hooked.

"I caught the running bug," Iacovelli said. "The atmosphere of cross country really helped me out. Everybody's friendly and they welcome you; it's low pressure. I've made a lot of improvement and I've gotten a lot stronger, but I still run for the fun of it. Even when I concentrate and am giving everything I've got, I'm enjoying myself."

Underdog approach

Iacovelli and cross country proved to be the perfect fit. By the end of that freshman year, he lowered his time to 17 minutes and finished seventh in the ILH and 13th in the state. As a sophomore, Iacovelli finished second in the league and fifth in the state, and last year he won the ILH.

He was the favorite going into the 2000 state meet on the Big Island, but was upset by Kamehameha's Justin Peterson on the hills of Hawai'i Prep.

Peterson is the guy whom Iacovelli beat by 35 seconds last Saturday.

"He's still the state champion, so I still consider him to be the favorite (this week)," Iacovelli said. "I approached this whole season as the underdog; I'm still hungry. I never thought it would just be me running away from people. "

But with the exception of one meet this fall, that has been the case. The only runner to beat him this season was Tyler Kastorff of Dana Hills (Dana Point, Calif.), who ran a 15:51 at the Kamehameha Invitational on Oct. 6. Iacovelli's time that day was a career-best 16:00.1, more than 40 seconds better than the times he posted last year.

He ran a 16:06 last Saturday while saving some energy for this week.

"Last year I went all out for the ILH," Iacovelli said. "I think it might have taken something out of me for states."

The course at KCC is relatively flat compared to Kamehameha's and HPA's, supposedly playing to Iacovelli's strengths. He is the defending state 1,500-meter and 3,000-meter champion in track.

Kamehameha coach Steve Jenness said that while Iacovelli is the favorite, nothing should be taken for granted.

"Todd is running really well, and he can go out and dominate again," Jenness said. "But in a state meet, somebody else is gonna have a good day, so it can be a tough one. It should be closer."

Besides Peterson, Iacovelli's toughest competition may come from O'ahu Interscholastic Association champion Jeff Lim (Mililani), Kamehameha's J.B. Bolson and Maui freshman Nick Jachowski (Maui Interscholastic League champ).

College bound

But Iacovelli could be even stronger this week because he won't have the SAT to worry about, as he did last week. Iacovelli, who carries a 3.68 grade point average, scored 1,230 on his first SAT attempt and has set his sights on attending Harvard, Stanford, California or Michigan.

Though one coach said Iacovelli could eventually be in the same class as former Hawai'i running greats Duncan Macdonald (Kailua) and Henry Marsh (Punahou), Iacovelli said he is not quite at that level yet.

"I met Joey Bunch (Radford), I trained with Matt Stevens (Hawai'i Baptist) and I know about Shawn Nixon (Kalaheo)," Iacovelli said, referring to three former multiple state champions. "When I look at their careers, I don't deserve (equal billing)."

Still, his career certainly is not bad for someone just three years removed from hoop dreams. And whatever happened to that former cross country runner who switched to volleyball, anyway?

"That was John Freese," Iacovelli said. "He's on the varsity volleyball team. So it worked out — I was a 6-foot freshman and he was a 6-4 freshman, so maybe volleyball was better for him.

"But I think I got the better of the deal."