KEAAU – It was only apropos that the BIIF girls cross-country season was unveiled on what some runners referred to as a “maze.”
There figure to be many more twists and turn to follow.
The faces at the top may change, but some of the color schemes came into crystal-blue focus Saturday at a first-time course at Christian Liberty, where early on five Vikings runners formed the lead pack, with a throng of Kealakehe runners not far behind.
That was the plan, said Hilo’s Teijah Rosas, though what followed was more a matter of chance, she said.
Rosas and teammate Alexia Palafox broke away, with Rojas winning the 5K in 22 minutes, 40.63 seconds.
“We were going for a pack and whoever was feeling it, we would take off on our own,” Rosas said.
This time, it just happened to be her and Palafox, a fellow senior, she said.
“We kind of separated at the last 400 meters,” Rosas said. “My final kick I saw Leilani (Stone) in my peripheral vision. I knew Alexia wasn’t going to push so she said to just go, so I just took the lead.”
Keaau’s Stone was the only runner not from Hilo or Kealakehe to place in the top eight, finishing a strong third.
The next time – perhaps Saturday at Kamehameha – two other Hilo runners could lead the way, Palafox said. The other members of the lead Hilo pack were Phoebie Wyatt (seventh), Cloud Rodin (eight) and Venus Rodin (19th). The five led the Vikings to the Division I team title last season.
“We’re all around the same speed,” Palafox said, “it really is about how everyone feels that day. Some feel better than others. It could be other girls next week.”
For the first time since 2015, the BIIF will crown a new girls champion now that Honokaa alum Sophia Cash, the league’s first four-time winner, is at Hawaii Pacific.
The Waveriders debuted a pair of potential contenders, as freshmen Ciara Blaber and Cozette Wood, finishing fourth and sixth, respectively, with senior Leann Hamilton sandwiched in between.
Kealakehe’s performance was a win-win in Hilo coach Bill McMahon’s book.
“Next week it could be Phoebie, Cloud, could be a new girl that is new to the team and is just learning,” he said. “So could Kealakehe, they’re good.
“That’s good for them and it’s good for us that we have each other. My girls went up to the Kealakehe girls at the end and congratulated team, and said without you we’re not going to be able to do anything.”
Hamilton finished an easy second last season behind Cash at BIIFs, though Kealakehe coach Patrick Bradley said his senior would use this cross-country season to get ready for a final go-around at HHSAA championship track gold in the 800 and 1,500. She won silver in the 800 in May on Maui.
“This is base training for her,” he said. “We use her speed. She’s good at this, but she’s much better on the track.
“She’s doing this to be a better track runner and to get a scholarship.”
Another contender to watch is Makua Lani senior Tia Lurbiecki, who finished third at BIIFs last season but didn’t race Saturday.
The Christian Liberty races were the first of seven regular-season meets leading up to the BIIF championships, Oct. 26 at Kamehameha.
“We want to win the team championship, and I think one of us can take BIIFs as an individual,” Palafox said.
Hilo, which edged Kealakehe on Saturday, will certainly have the pack on its side.
“If we’re in a pack than we push each other and were competing with each other,” Rosas said. “Our coach tells us there are no excuses in cross-country.”
Ankrum the ace
The boys went off on the same soft course, where turns were at a premium.
However, the landscape at the top is more straightforward thanks to Kealakehe’s Alex Ankrum. The defending BIIF champion picked up where he left off, winning in 18:11.24, more than nine seconds ahead of Hilo’s John Marrack.
One difference this season is Ankrum isn’t going out to win each race, a goal he accomplished last year.
“I don’t care too much, I’m more focusing on BIIFs and states,” he said. “If I lose one of the races, not too big. I’m probably going to train through the meets and not taper.”
Ankrum is coming off a “disappointing” track and field season, one that got “destroyed” during a trip to the mainland that included an illness, a low amount of sleep and even less training.
In a sense, he’s running for redemption.
“Now, I’m training a lot more, running morning and nights, two-a-days almost every day,” he said.
At Christian Liberty, Kealakehe edged four-time BIIF champion Waiakea by a point thanks to freshmen Cameron Cornforth (eighth) and Aidan Ankrum (ninth) as well as senior Levi Childers (11th).
“I would really like to win a team title, but we’ve got our work cut out for us,” Alec Ankrum said. “We’ve got a good group of guys pushing each other, which is what we want. They are only going to get stronger.”
Rounding out the top five were Hawaii Prep Kanoa Blake in third, followed by Kamehameha’s Carlos Masuko and Waiakea’s Kederang Ueda.
Waiakea, coached by Lance and Mary Jane Tominaga, returns five of its top seven runners.
“We hope to have (Kederang) chasing that front pack and be right up there, that’s his goal,” Lance Tominaga said. “We have a few others that should be right up there with him.”
The Tominagas also work Ueda and Deylan Okinaka (sixth Saturday) with their club, Sunrise Athletics, so, Mary Jane said, they know what’s expected.
Lance Tominaga called Saturday a “snapshot.”
“It’s a long season,” he said. “We saw where they are right now.
“The field is deep this year. After the first couple of meets, we’ll see where we are.”