Avegalio's throws lift Kahuku boys to OIA track title

By Wes Nakama
Advertiser Staff Writer

Mililani's Mei Li Nickles, left, Chun Mei Nickles, center, and Kahuku's Krisha Kai participated in the 100-meter hurdles. Chun Mei Nickles won the event in 15.66. Photos by Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser

Radford's Andrew Maixner is ahead of the pack in the 1,500-meter run. He won the event in 4:13.57.

Kalani's KaHung Tsoi finishes off the triple jump. He won the event with a distance of 43 feet, 9 inches.

Avegalio set a meet record in the discus with a throw of 181 feet, 6 inches to shatter the mark of 171-9 set by Farrington's James Barriento in 1993. Avegalio also won the shot put with a mark of 55-1.

Kahuku added first-place finishes from Ryan Orme in the 3000-meter run with a time of 9 minutes, 44.56 seconds and its 4x400 relay team of Frank Bracewell, Sam Spurrier, Spencer Hafoka and Orme, which posted a time of 3:32.76. Orme took second in the 1500 (4:18.60).

The Red Raiders finished with 56 overall points, followed by Roosevelt (35), Mililani and Radford (31 each).

Although Avegalio's discus throw was a meet record, he actually posted a mark of 186-10 three weeks ago to set an OIA Eastern Division meet record.

"In practice, it's been even farther," said Avegalio, who took second in the state last year with a throw of 169-7. "That's what I'm working on now, to carry over the practice environment into competition. Today I was hoping to hit 190, but I made too many mistakes. I'll be focusing on those next."

Last year, Kamehameha's Brandon Ala drew national attention when he threw the discus 196 feet, 11 inches in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu trials. That mark was the fifth-best in the country at the time.

Ala, now a freshman on the University of Washington football team, won the state championship with a throw of 174-11.

"My goal in states is to hit 200," Avegalio said. "We've been planning to peak at the right time, so hopefully it'll happen."

Mililani's Nickles sisters have been making it happen all season, and each put on another spectacular show yesterday.

Chun Mei, a senior, set a meet record in the pole vault with a mark of 10 feet, 7 inches, eclipsing the record of 10-6 set by Roosevelt's Kimberly Higa in 2000. Chun Mei also won the 100 hurdles with a time of 15.66 and ran the third leg of the Trojans' winning 4x100 relay team, which posted a time of 51.63.

"The 100 hurdles was phenomenal; I had never run in the 15s before," she said.

Chun Mei had set what is believed to be a state record in the pole vault last week when she cleared 11-1 at the Punahou Relays.

"I tried for 11-2 (today) but I guess I wasn't ready for it," she said. "I was kinda disappointed."

Mei Li, a junior, won the long jump with a leap of 17 feet, 7 1/2 inches and the triple jump with a mark of 35-8. She also took second in the 100 hurdles (15.72) and fourth in the 100 (13.14), in addition to running the anchor on the winning 4x100 team.

"The long jump is a personal record, and the triple jump is not my best but I'm happy with it," Mei Li said. "The 100 is not bad, because I haven't done it in awhile."

Mililani's victory comes one year after the Trojans lost the OIA championship by one point to Kaiser.

The day's most exciting finish was in the boys 800, where Radford's Andrew Maixner won with a time of 2:03.05, edging Roosevelt's Erik Le by .09 seconds. Maixner trailed Le by at least 10 yards heading into the home stretch and Le saw him closing in.

Maixner finally caught Le in the final five yards and lunged forward to win by the smallest of margins.

"I saw (Le) die out just a little toward the end, and that gave me an extra burst," Maixner said. "I leaned him out, and at first I still wasn't sure I won, but when I saw everybody's reaction, I realized I did."

Maixner also won the 1500 with a time of 4:13.57. The meet's other multiple winner in individual events was Farrington's Rosela Fa'aiu, who won the shot put with a mark of 37-4 and the discus with a throw of 107-10.