With Taysia Rocha leading the way, Waiakea’s girls BIIF track and field championship had long been decided.
The boys crown, and rare a title sweep, wasn’t secure until Jayden Gebin called his shot in the final race of the meet, the 1,600-meter relay.
“I went up to the 4×400 (team), and I usually tell them the order,” Warriors coach Tim Carigon said, “but I said, you guys decide what the order is.”
Gebin, a junior, knew. He was going to be the anchor.
“He said ‘I’m going to decide the win,’” Carigon said. “It was really cool of him to take ownership of that race, saying, “I will be the one to determine the race.’”
Gebin did so under the lights Saturday after a light drizzle at Konawaena. Perhaps the dampness can explain his flare for the dramatic. He took the baton 5 yards behind Hawaii Prep’s final runner, took the lead, trailed again, caught up and then took a dive.
“He dove across the line to win,” Carigon said. “The last 5 yards he threw himself to the line.”
With the four-point win over Kamehameha, Waiakea captured its first BIIF title sweep and the first for any school in track and field in at least 15 years.
Kiyoshi Todd ran the lead leg of the relay – followed by Sylis Ruth and Kederang Ueda – and the junior is one of two top seeds from the BIIF at the HHSAA championships, which will be held Friday and Saturday at Kamehameha-Kapalama in Honolulu.
Todd, just the latest quality runner to be churned out by distance guru MJ Tominaga, won the 800 on Saturday in 2 minutes, 0.57 seconds. Saint Louis’ Michael Joshua Price won the ILH championship last week with a 2:01.28.
“Kiyoshi is a front-runner,” Carigon said. “He’ll get out in front and see what happens, but there are going to be guys all over him.”
Konawaena’s Caiya Hanks has a chance to sweep the sprints. Her BIIF championship mark in the 100 (12.33) is the best in the state, and she’s lowered her time in the 200 the past four weeks, crossing in 25.33 at BIIFs. Her greatest competition in that event could come from King Kekaulike freshman Ja’lyn Deichert, who blazed to a time of 24.84 in winning the MIL title.
“Konawaena has such a solid sprint, jump core, they always come through with good stuff,” Carigon said.
Hanks headlines a 400 relay squad that is a medal favorite, and her 1,600 squad could contend as well, though they took second at BIIFs behind an HPA relay that is ranked No. 2 in the state. In the triple jump, the Wildcats’ Ro’o Satta-Ellis is the second seed, though he’s more than 3 feet behind the best mark put up by Kapolei senior Jordan McQueen.
Fresh off taking three silvers and a gold and medaling in all six of her events to become the BIIF championships’ top point scorer, Rocha’s best bet for a top-three finish at states will come in the jumps. The senior claimed the triple at BIIFs.
Ueda is the BIIF’s bell cow in the 1,500 and 3,000, but Carigon said he’ll be “chasing” Parker Wagnild. The Mid-Pacific senior is the top seed in each event, and only two runners, including Ueda, have put up a time within 6 seconds of him in the 1,500. In the 3,000, Wagnild’s best is 30 seconds better than that of Ueda, the third seed.
“He’s coming along, the 1,500 especially,” Carigon said of his runner. “I think he’ll be in it. We’ll see what happens.”
