Isabella Au won the first race against her twin sister, Rylee, and so it began.
A competitive spirit was born, but now that each is a Waiakea High senior, it’s enough already.
“I don’t like comparing between each other,” Isabella said, “because that’s something we’ve always had to do our whole lives.”
It’s just that they compete together — and against each other — so gracefully.
Rylee edged out her sister last month to win the BIIF diving championship, but it was Isabelle who was a half-foot better Saturday in their newest athletic pursuit, the pole vault.
For the record, Isabella was born 14 minutes before her sister, and, yes, they said, they get asked that a lot.
Then again, not everything has to be a competition.
“I’m not going to aim for height, I’m going to aim to get better,” Isabella said after clearing 10 feet at Waiakea’s Ken Yamase Memorial Stadium after the first BIIF and track field meet since 2019.
That was her mindset when each was a competitive gymnast in middle school and then when each started diving as freshmen. Their transition to the pole vault has been made easier thanks to the body control they attained in training for their other disciplines.
“Overall body strength is what gymnastics focuses on,” Rylee said.
Still, the pole vault has its own learning curve.
Run, plant pole in box, pull up … and you’re just now getting into the air.
“I really want to get better,” Rylee said after clearing 9-6. “It’s more about technique. It’s once you’re in the air and turning.”
And it’s a rush to beat that bar. They each started the sport during the summer, and the first time each cleared they said they had big smiles on their faces as they headed back to earth.
“It feels a lot longer than it is,” Rylee said of rush. “It’s that exciting spark.”
The same could be said of diving.
“Every sport I’ve done, they had their own individual fear factors, they’re all different,” Isabelle said. “I just found (pole vault) to be really fun.
“Sports is just been a big part of my life, so I’m going to do my best and see where it gets me.”
Whatever mainland college she ends up at, it will separate her away from her sister, and that’s by design.
They’re in agreement: They love each to death, but at the same time they can’t wait to get away from each other.
“I need to figure out the world on my own,” Rylee said.
All 13 competitors in the pole vaulting were from Waiakea, and most of the credit goes to assistant Sherman Viernes.
“He can basically take someone from the stands and in six months you’ll be able to do something,” Waiakea coach Tim Carigon said.
On the boys side, sophomore Shelbey Cabais-Fernandez cleared 10-6, though Carigon said he’s reached much higher in practice.
At the 2019 BIIF championships, Eric Cabais-Fernandez set a BIIF record of 14-6 to repeat as champ. For starters, Shelbey Cabais-Fernandez would like to beat his older brother’s best as a sophomore: 12-6.
“You just have to take it serious, take it careful and work hard,” Shelbey Cabais Fernandez said.
The double winners at the meet were: Konawaena’s Caiya Hanks (100- and 200-meter sprints) and Torrance Satta-Ellis (200 and triple jump), Kamehameha’s Kahiau Poe (100 and long jump), Keaau’s Kamaile Paikuli (discus, shot put) and Hawaii Prep freshman Elaina Head (long jump and triple jump).
Only seniors had participated in a BIIF track and field before Saturday, and one of the best in the league is Hanks, who took bronze in the 100 in 2019.
Satta-Ellis, a junior, was second Saturday behind Poe in the 100 and triple jump. Poe, sophomore, was second in the 200.
Another senior to watch is Waiakea’s Taysia Rocha, who reached 16-11 in winning the long jump before being edged by Head in the triple.
Carigon said Waiakea features a more balanced squad than it did three years ago, when the boys took first and the girls second. Rocha will spearhead the girls side in six events, also running the sprints and relays.
“Taysia was already the heart of the team as a freshman,” he said.
Carigon compared the opener to a Parks & Recreation meet because of the relative inexperience.
Most encouraging to the coach were the efforts turned in by first-time performers such as the Warriors’ Donte Hall-Rowa, who won the high jump, and Kris Tamanoha, who claimed the shot put.
“I know Taysia and Kederang (Ueda) are going to do their thing, but it’s the guys who have never done anything” that jump out to me, Carigon said. “(Kris) walks up and tells me he did 37 feet (in the shot put), and I thought he was a liar.”
Ueda is the BIIF cross-country champion, and he who won the 1,500 on Saturday.
“I’m just thankful we are running in circles today,” Carigon said. “All we do is run in circles, throw heavy objects and jump over things, and it felt really good.”