Posted on: Sunday, July 18, 2004
Kids enjoy summer fun on the run
| • | Junior Olympics results |
By Stanley Lee
Advertiser Staff Writer
For athletes in Cheri Harper's Schofield Stallions track club, running helps insulate them from troubling events happening around the world.
Photos by Andrew Shimabuku • The Honolulu Advertiser "My dad usually pushes me when he's here so I kind of think about him and it gives me a little bit of an edge," Hodge, of Mililani, said. "It makes me try harder."
"This is a positive way for them to expend their time and energy while they're parents are away," Harper added. "It gives them something to focus on rather than having to keep a vigilant watch on the news."
Hodge was one of more than 500 youths who participated in yesterday's Hawai'i USA Track and Field Junior Olympic State Championships at Kaiser High School. It was the fifth of the six-meet summer track season.
The top three finishers in each event from five age divisions yesterday qualified for the USA Junior Olympic Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Ore., July 27 to Aug. 1.
One of those qualifiers is Lea Lundblad, 11, of Ha'iku, Maui. Lundblad, who has competed in summer track since she was 5, trained this past spring with state cross country and track champion Tia Ferguson of Seabury Hall.
"It was fun but I was littler so I was kind of the last one," said Lundblad, who will be a sixth-grader at Seabury Hall. "But it really helped me to improve my running because some studies said if you want to be a big dog, you have to become one."
"We're hoping that she qualifies for the finals," said her father and coach Mike.
Another contender at the nationals could be 12-year-old Taisha Santiago of Hau'ula. Santiago won both the girls midget discus and shot put. Her winning mark of 76 feet, 4 inches in the discus is less than 4 feet shy of last year's winning national mark.
"She can throw over 80 feet already," said her father and coach Scott. "We're looking at taking first at nationals. She's throwing farther than the (Hawai'i) girls two age groups above her."
For first-year runners like Morgan Collier, 10, and Paige Liu, 9, of Mililani Track Club, summer track was full of learning experiences. Both felt it prepared them for other sports like soccer and they also enjoyed beating the boys.
"Boys are supposed to be faster and they have a lot more muscle," said Liu, who will be a fourth-grader at Mililani 'Ike.
"Coach said you shouldn't give up," said Collier, who will be a fifth-grader at Mililani 'Ike. "If you come in last place, it's OK. Just try harder next time."
Reach Stanley Lee at slee@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-8533.
Erick Hodge, 13, is one of nine Stallions who has a parent deployed in the military. Running, Hodge says, is a way to keep connected to his father, who is in Afghanistan.
Jessica Kawana, 10, pulls away from the pack to win the 800-meter run at the Hawai'i USA Track and Field Junior Olympic State Championships.
Niko Kanae, 12, slips over the high jump bar.
Training with Ferguson helped Lundblad shave 15 seconds off her previous best 800-meter tim
e. yesterday, she won the midget division (ages 11 to 12) 800 in 2 minutes, 54.9 seconds. Her training times have been in the 2:24 to 2:30 range, which could help her do well at the nationals.
