You win some and you lose some.
And so it went for some of the state’s best track athletes Saturday night at the OIA championship meet in Mililani.
For Campbell’s Leilani Leopard, it was two wins and two close second-place finishes.
McKinley’s Narayana Schneider won the 1500, but did not run in the 800, where Kaiser’s Nicholas Georgia surpassed Schneider’s best previous Hawaii time of 2019.
Mililani’s Mackenzie Reed remained red hot, winning in the 200 and 400 meters, but due partly to a fall (and dive) at the end, lost a close one to Leopard in the 100.
So, let’s take a closer look at those performances:
>> Leopard won the 100 dash (12.62 seconds to Reed’s 12.72) and the 100 hurdles (15.13), but lost to Reed in the 200 and to Radford’s Naomi Bates in the 300 hurdles. Bates, meanwhile, grabbed Hawaii’s best time of 2019 with her 44.33.
“It was a milliscond off,” said Leopard after her 44.36 in the loss to Bates. “I give her credit. She’s been doing so well this whole season. I’m trying to get my times down in all my events because I know I can do it. I’m learning how to put your best effort into every single event despite how tired you are. That’s the hard part because you’ve got to be determined to do it all.”
Leopard was planning to, but did not run in the 4-x-100 relay Saturday.
“That’s the goal — states,” she added. “Me and my dad have been practicing since the offseason in November. I’m doing hills and I’m doing 400s to help with my 300.”
>> Schneider, who earlier in the season ran a 4:00.61 in the 1500, couldn’t take advantage of cool conditions to break that mark. He settled for a 4:05.47.
“My body wasn’t reacting like I wanted it to,” Schneider said. “I was more tired finishing today than I was when I did (the 4:00.61).It just wasn’t the day.”
Schneider is striving to to get his time down to 3:56.
“Since I did that (4:00.61), I want to go faster,” he said. “I think I’m physically ready for it. I’m really confident. There’s two weeks until states, so I can train hard the first week and then the week after can taper and get ready physically and mentally.”
>> Reed, who has the best Hawaii times so far in 2019 in the 200 (25.82) and 400 (58.76) did not set PRs, but still got the wins in 26.12 and 58.95.
She’s primed for showtime at states.
“I’m going to watch what I eat and be super healthy and drink all the water I can to keep my body moving,” she said. “But also don’t want to push it … reserve myself, save all my energy for when I get to states and keep my eyes on the prize and focus.”
The most noteworthy performance of the night came from Moanalua’s Rashod Tanner, who won the 100 (11.00), 200 (22.29) and long jump (21 feet, 3.25 inches). And, in keeping with the night’s theme, lost in the 4×100 with his teammates, placing third behind Castle and Radford.
Kalani’s Nathaniel Balangitao won two individual events —- the shot put (46-4) and discus (151-6).
Radford’s Michael Edwards ran a 39.02 to win the 300 hurdles and break the meet record and is now in some fine company with Kamehameha’s Tanner Moku, Baldwin’s Rey Cadiz and Punahou’s Chris Paige heading to states. Moku ran an ILH-record 37.99 at that league’s title meet earlier Saturday, Cadiz’s PR is 38.90, and Paige’s PR is 38.92. Moku’s effort surpassed Dana Navarro Arias’ 38.10 for Maui High in 1999, which still stands as the state-meet record.
There was a scary moment for Campbell’s Faith Inay, who passed out after the 800 and received medical attention by trainers and an ambulance that arrived.
She was put in an ambulance and later emerged, apparently OK. Her mom said she had trimmed seven seconds off her personal best in Thursday’s preliminaries and was just a half-second away from qualifying for states and had been anxious in anticipation of trying to do her best on Saturday before coming up short.
OIA Track and Field team scores
OIA Track and Field individual results
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