WAIMEA — Konawaena has been on the course for four long years, but finally, the Wildcats hit the historic finish line at the HHSAA Cross Country championships at Hawaii Preparatory Academy on Saturday.
WAIMEA — Konawaena has been on the course for four long years, but finally, the Wildcats hit the historic finish line at the HHSAA Cross Country championships at Hawaii Preparatory Academy on Saturday.
Behind a top 10 effort from BIIF champion Cody Ranfranz — who was followed closely by his teammates — the Wildcats captured the first Division II team championship in school history.
“I couldn’t be more proud of the effort,” Konawaena head coach Patrick Bradley said. “Four out of five of our runners are seniors, so it’s great for them to go out as champions.”
Konawaena finished runner-up to Hawaii Preparatory Academy in the BIIF championships last week, but flipped the script for the state race.
Ranfranz led the way in the 5K race, finishing in 18 minutes and 46.80 seconds, good for 10th overall. Teammate Josiah Vallez (18:58.52) and Lawrence Barrett (18:52.52) followed close behind in 11th and 14th place, respectively. Ragan Leslie (20:32.41) and Logan Takazawa (20:32.47) rounded out the five scoring runners, finishing less than a second apart.
“I think the hardest part in all this was having them believe that all the training and work was worth it,” Bradley said. “Cross country is a year-round sport. I think today shows that it all paid off.”
In the individual race, Punahou senior Connor Lehl captured his first title, scorching through the wet and windy course in 17:42.34.
“I’ve been training hard the last four years for this. It’s amazing for it to finally come true,” Lehl said. “Running down that final stretch with everyone cheering you on — there’s nothing like it.”
Other BIIF notables in the top 25 were: Kealakehe’s Ziggy Bartholomy (18th, 19:05.35), Hilo’s Steven Chung (20th. 19:07.73) and Slater Inouye (21st, 19:08.86), and Waiakea’s Eric Cabais-Fernande (24th, 19:20.45).
Iolani repeated as the boys Division I team champions.
In the girl’s race, Veronica Winham went wire-to-wire to become Seabury Hall’s first champion since 2013. The junior Spartan crossed the finishing tape in 20:55.66.
“It feels incredible,” Winham said. “From the beginning I felt really good. I took the lead from the start and didn’t let anyone pass me.”
Winham wasn’t the only Spartan at the front of the pack. Four of the first five finishers were sporting Seabury colors, including Ava Shipman (21:15.96), who finished second. Radford’s Camryn Butz was the lone name in the top five that was not from Seabury.
The Spartans won the Division II title for the fifth consecutive season, and easily could have had enough firepower for the DI title, which went to Punahou.
“They work off each other,” Seabury Hall head coach Bobby Grossman said of his deep roster. “We had a lot of positive energy all year.”
A rainbow arching over the Hawaii Prep football field welcomed the runners to the meet, but the conditions were far from ideal. While scattered blue skies occasionally poked out from the fast moving clouds, sideways rain and winds were prevalent for most of the day. Luckily for Seabury, running in weather is nothing new.
”The weather fit us,” Grossman said. “Our training conditions are just like this.”
“Rain or shine, we run,” Winham added.
The BIIF was well represented in the girl’s top 10, with Honokaa sophomore and two-time league champ Sophia Cash finishing seventh at 22:04.27, and Waiakea’s Saya Yabe sliding in at the No. 10 spot with a time of 22:17.97.