Iolani meet has hotly contested races
By Brandon Masuoka
Advertiser Staff Writer
Fittingly on election day, the state's largest cross country meet provided its share of runaway races and close finishes at Kualoa Ranch.
The fourth annual Iolani Cross Country Invitational yesterday featured eight races and more than 1,300 local and Mainland runners from intermediate school, high school and college.
The all-day meet showcased some of the finest local high school talent and provided a sneak preview of this season's state championships.
"It was really fun running against the Mainland people," said Iolani sophomore Nicole Anderson, who was the top local finisher in the girls varsity division at sixth place. "I like it when it's challenging."
Ruth Graham of Henry Gunn (Calif.) and Carl Moe of Auburn Riverside (Wash.) won the girls and boys individual titles, respectively, completing the 3.1-mile course in 19 minutes, 48.4 seconds and 16:18.5, respectively.
Montgomery (Calif.) and Eisenhower (Wash.), which survived a tie-breaker against Orange (Calif.), won the girls and boys team titles, respectively.
Moe, who won by more than 30 seconds, outran the competition on the second of three hills.
"My plan was to go out slow," said Moe, a senior. "In the earlier races, the boys and girls who went out fast ended up dying at the end."
Maui sophomore Nick Jachowski, who was the top local finisher in the boys varsity division at 16th place, said he started slow but passed more than 30 runners in the race.
"I found myself in 50th place at the start," Jachowski said. "It was really hilly and there was dirt flying everywhere. I was 15th right before the finish line when a runner passed me."
Graham, a senior, said the heat was a major factor.
"It was definitely hot," she said. "The heat wore me down at the end."
In the collegiate races, UCLA's Jon Rankin and Hawai'i Pacific junior Nina Christensen won the individual titles in 16:03.5 and 18:41.9, respectively. UCLA swept the team titles.
In one of the closest races of the day, Christensen edged University of Hawai'i junior Victoria Chang by less than three seconds.
"It was a good battle," Christensen said. "I know she has been a lot stronger, but I am strong too."
Chang said Christensen was unbeatable yesterday. Chang is taking a break from Stanford and was racing in her second collegiate meet in Hawai'i since enrolling at UH in June.
"My goal was just to stay with her," Chang said. "She's strong, talented and really competitive. I had no thoughts of passing her."
Last year's Hawai'i state champion Christal Cuadra, of San Diego State, finished 17th. Cuadra graduated from Maryknoll.
Meet organizer Paul Shinkawa said Iolani is planning to host a larger meet next year.
"But not too large," Shinkawa said. "This is designed for the local teams first and the Mainland teams can share in what we have to offer."
John Dye, who operates one of the country's premier internet high school track sites, called the meet a memorable experience.
"This definitely has a chance to be one of the major meets in the country," Dye said.
Results
College Men (3.1 miles)
Team
1, UCLA (Calif.) 24. 2, Hawai'i Pacific University 59. 3, Mt. SAC (Calif.) 60. 4, Univ. of San Francisco 125. 5, Brigham Young (Utah) 127.
Individual
1, Jon Rankin (UCLA) 16:03.5 2, Christian Madsen (HPU) 16:09.2 3, Ozzie Pina (Mt. SAC) 16:16.8 4, Ben Aragon (UCLA) 16:26.1 5, Daniel Rojas (Unatt.) 16:26.6 6, Eric Emilsson (UCLA) 16:31.4 7, Phil Young (UCLA) 16:54.7 8, David Cerecerez (Mt. SAC) 16:55.9. 9, Puneet Mahan (UCLA) 17:06.1. 10, Abdelslam Naji (HPU) 17:13.5.
Boys Varsity (3.1 miles)
Team
1, Eisenhower (Wash.) 52. 2, Orange (Calif.) 68. 3, Bingham (Utah) 70. 4, Auburn (Wash.) 105. 5, Montgomery (Calif.) 201.
Individual
1, Carl Moe (Auburn) 16:18.5. 2, Robbie Barany (Eisenhower) 16:53.2. 3, Francisco Guerra (Orange) 16:59.9. 4, Ryan Merriman (Bingham) 17:00.6. 5, Dallin Blenn (Eisenhower) 17:18.8. 6, Jesus Chavez (Eisenhower) 17:20.4. 7, Fred Gomez (Cresent Valley, Ore.) 17:27.5. 8, KC Cody (Montgomery)17:29.1. 9, Matt Fitch (Montgomery) 17:43.5. 10, Raul Lara (Orange) 17:51.4.
Boys Open (3.1 miles)
Individual
1, Alex Garcia (Orange) 18:31.3. 2, Jameson Jenkins (Bingham) 18:37.3. 3, Chad Peterson (Bingham) 18:50.4. 4, Alfredo Sandoval (Orange) 19:10.0. 5, Chris Hancock (Bingham) 19:21.4. 6, Curtis Blake (Bingham) 19:21.5. 7, Kevin Hicken (Bingham) 19:26.6. 8, Orrys Williams (Pac-5) 19:28.8. 9, Joe Labrum (Bingham) 19:36.0. 10, Kevin Lenahan (Pun) 19:42.9.
Boys Intermediate (2 miles)
Team
1, Kamehameha 24. 2, Iolani 65. 3, Punahou 76. 4, Pac-Five 102. 5, Central 113.
Individual
1, Aaron Domingo (Kam) 12:13.8. 2, Jeremy Kamakaala (Kam) 12:18.1. 3, Troy Yasuda (Pun) 12:34.5. 4, Jay Kauka (Kam) 13:09.6. 5, Jesse Moniz (Kam) 13:12.1.
College Women (3.1 miles)
Team
1, UCLA 46. 2, UH-Manoa 88. 3, Oklahoma St. 89. 4, San Diego St. 106. 5, Hawai'i Pacific 117.
Individual
1, Nina Christensen (HPU) 18:41.9. 2, Victoria Chang (Hawai'i) 18:44.5. 3, Sayuri Kusutani (HPU) 18:47.6. 4, Ami Butler (Okla. St.) 19:04. 5, Hanna Bremler (Hawai'i) 19:08.0. 6, Marie Nilsson (Okla. St) 19:11.7. 7, Jenna Timinsky (UCLA) 19:14.8. 8, Lori Mann (UCLA) 19:15.0. 9, Alejandra Barrientos (UCLA) 19:18.4. 10, Carmen Winant (UCLA) 19:20.3.
Girls Varsity (3.1 miles)
Team
1, Montgomery (Calif.) 57. 2, Eisenhower (Wash.) 57. 3, Punahou 128. 4, Clovis East (Calif.) 137. 5, Bingham (Utah) 153.
Individual
1, Ruth Graham (Gunn, Calif.) 19:48.4. 2, Kit Zeigle (Bingham) 20:02.8. 3, Julie Baird (Eisenhower) 20:30.8. 4, Kim Handel (Montgomery) 20:36.7. 5, Whitney Stohr (Eisenhower) 20:59.0. 6, Nicole Anderson (Iolani) 21:01.3. 7, Katie Hummel (Eisenhower) 21:03.7. 8, Mikell Gibbons (Eisenhower) 21:11.1. 9, Carina Hendricks (Montgomery) 21:16.7. 10, Jessica Domingo (Kamehemeha) 21:25.3.
Girls Open (2 miles)
Team
1, Iolani 53. 2, Punahou 66. 3, Kamehameha 91. 4, Crescent Valley (Ore.) 128. 5, Long Beach Poly 133.
Individual
1, Brittany Brimes (Centennial) 13:21.1. 2, Tijana Zoric (Rotorua, New Zealand) 14:12.0. 3, Liat Portner (Punahou) 14:20.2. 4, Stephanie Pearson (Rotorua) 14:27.7. 5, Jessika Ngirblekuu (Iolani) 14:34.2. 6, Julie Mills (Montgomery) 14:36.9. 7, Silleste Craig (Rotorua) 14:50.6. 8, Jodi Dale (Rotorua) 14:55.0. 9, Christine Whiteside (Eisenhower) 14:58.8. 10, Rachel Martin (Waimea) 14:59.7.
Intermediate Girls (2 miles)
Team
1, Iolani 51. 2, Punahou 56. 3, Hawai'i Baptist 81. 4, Kamehameha 86. 5, Baldwin 93.
Individual
1, Lauren Ho (HBA) 14:13.7. 2, Chelsea Oda (Pun) 14:30.8. 3, Charlotte Pearson (Rotorua, New Zealand) 14:46.7. 4, Sarah Medoff (HBA) 14:56.4. 5, Monique Avery (Rotorua) 15:08.1.
