HILO — Waiakea High School hosted the season-opening Big Island Interscholastic Federation (BIIF) track and field meet on Saturday, and several household names from last season reemerged as some of the island’s best throughout the day.
Hilo’s star-powered senior sister pair of Kekaihulali and Kekaimalino Halpern, who established themselves as some of the top BIIF long distance runners in 2024, found themselves on the podium once again. Kekaihulali Halpern, who won the 800-meter race at states last season with a personal-best time, won the same race once again — crossing the finish line with a time of 2:21.61. Kealakehe junior Grace Anderle (2:39.05) and Hawaii Preparatory Academy sophomore Tea Kasumovich (2:42.70) rounded out the remainder of the top three in the race.
Waiakea senior Austin Mohica won the boys 800-meter run with a time of 2:13.64.
Halpern additionally won the girls 3,000-meter dash, racing in 10:51.71 — crushing junior second-place finisher Elisa Childers of Kealakehe by nearly 40 seconds. Kamehameha Schools-Hawai‘i sophomore speedster Brayden Tamura won the boys 3,000-meter race with a time of 10:52.98.
Kekaimalino Halpern, who also raced at states last season, won the girls 1500-meter dash with a time of 5:25.91. Anderle placed second with a personal-record time of 5:27.21 and Ka Makani’s Naomi DeMille finished in third in 5:43.19.
Konawaena’s Violet Schaut, who won silver medals in the girls 100 and 400-meter dashes at last year’s state championship, picked up where she left off with personal-best wins in the 100-meter run (12.02s) and girls 200-meter (24.65s). Sophomore Wildcat Kea Sanders reached a personal-best time in the boys 100-meter dash, crossing the finish line at the 11.22s mark. Kealakehe junior Jackson Rigg (11.30s), Kealakehe senior Kekaimalu Macabio (11.41s), KSH sophomore Cole Walker (11.46s) and Hilo senior Brennan Barrientos (11.48s) rounded out the rest of the top five with all personal bests.
Sanders also notched a personal record in the boys long jump — leaping 6.27 meters (20-07.00) to clinch first overall in the event. He also tied with KSH sophomore Isaiah Kanae for first in the high jump (5-06.00). For Kanae, the jump was a personal best.
KSH sophomore Judah Kanoa had himself a day in hurdles, finishing with personal-best times in the 110-meter race (15.76s) and 300-meter race (40.82s).
HPA senior Elaina Head, who dominated the BIIF in field events throughout 2024 and placed in the girls high jump and triple jump at states, won in the triple jump (33-01.75), high jump (5-02.00) and discus (94-03). She also placed second in the girls long jump (16-04.50), placing behind Konawaena sophomore winner Jazmin Filmore — who leaped 5.08 meters (16-08.00). Head is widely expected to have another dominant season across a variety of field events.
To view a full list of results for each event, see AthleticLive’s website. The 2025 BIIF track and field season will continue this weekend.