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It should be the simplest of all sports. It’s about who runs from the start to the finish fastest, who throws things the farthest, and who jumps the highest and longest distances.
But nothing about track and field is easy. As our sports editor Curtis Murayama reminded me recently, it’s a three-ring (sometimes four-ring) circus where they keep score.
Saturday’s Island Movers/HHSAA state championships were even more chaotic than usual, as the trials scheduled for Friday were canceled due to lightning. That meant a long day into the night Saturday to ensure that all qualifiers still got their opportunity — however slight — to medal or score points for their team, via the “timed finals” system (and the field events took longer than usual, too).
The competitors entering with the best marks ran in the last heats. So, to get to the podium if you did not enter the meet in the top eight, you likely needed to run the fastest you ever have and then cross your fingers.
That’s what Moanalua hurdler Jalon Harris did in the 300-meter hurdles. His 40.74 in the second of three sections was a personal best, and after the final heat a couple minutes later it was good enough for third place — in an event where he’d placed fifth in the league championship meet.
Harris’ stepping up relieved Na Menehune coach Earl Kishimoto from some temporary anxiety.
“Getting points from the second heat is a really good bonus,” he said. “Especially since we had a problem in the 4×100 (relay).”
Oftentimes it’s seemingly little things like this that make the difference when a team is contending for a championship. And, they’re quite dramatic if they happen at the end of the meet, like Mid-Pacific freshman Mia Takashima triple jumping the Owls into their first-ever state championship with a hop, skip and jump that propelled her to third place in the event and a tie with Punahou for the team state championship. The Buffanblu girls won for the sixth time in the last seven state meets.
“I didn’t perform well on my previous jump,” Takashima said.
Her teammates, fellow freshman Riley Quan and senior Destiny Look, helped her relax and focus, she said.
Look had already done her part, sweeping the jumps and the hurdles events. That’s 50 of MPI’s 62 points.
Also, thanks to research by the Star-Advertiser’s Jerry Campany, we know that Look finishes her prep career tied with four others for an all-time Hawaii state meet career record of nine gold medals.
As for Moanalua’s boys, Kishimoto didn’t really need to fret, since sprinter Jayden Grevious doubled, and James Millare duplicated his effort of 2025 by winning all three distance events. Millare also anchored Na Menehune in the 4×800 relay, bringing home the gold after starting his leg in third place, at least 10 yards off the lead.
The senior finished his two years in Hawaii with two state cross country championships and two triple crowns in the distance events at the state track and field championships — the first boy to ever do that here.
Millare did not appear to be tested in his first three events Saturday, walking normally and smiling just a few seconds after winning the 1,500 in 4:03.14.
There was talk he might run the 4×400 relay, just a few minutes after the 3,000. But it was a hot day, so everyone had to wonder how much he had left in the tank.
It’s quite rare for the 3,000 meters to end in a closer finish than the shortest sprints, but that’s what happened here. Grevious won the 100 in 10.80, with Ronin Fanelli of ‘Iolani second in 11.10. Grevious later also won the 200, in 22.07, with Maui’s Jonah Cariaga second at 22.59.
Millare and Radford’s Stephen Kozuma sprinted side-by-side at the end of the 3,000 meters. It looked like the taller Kozuma had the advantage for a final lean, but Millare crossed first … by 8/100ths of a second. The times were 9:00.74 and 9:00.82. What a spectacular way for the most complete two-year performance in boys distance running in state history to end.
Millare is not much of a talker, but he did compliment Kozuma, saying, “I always expect a lot out of him.”
Kozuma, who was also second in the 1,500, spoke of how Millare brought out the best in him.
“James is one of the best athletes in the country,” Kozuma said. “I’m grateful to have someone like him to compete against, even though I lost to him around 20 times. Two-time state runner-up isn’t so bad.”
Please, Stephen, please. Please tell me that you are not a senior.
“Yes, I’m a junior,” Kozuma said. “Next year is my year.”
Continue reading...
But nothing about track and field is easy. As our sports editor Curtis Murayama reminded me recently, it’s a three-ring (sometimes four-ring) circus where they keep score.
Saturday’s Island Movers/HHSAA state championships were even more chaotic than usual, as the trials scheduled for Friday were canceled due to lightning. That meant a long day into the night Saturday to ensure that all qualifiers still got their opportunity — however slight — to medal or score points for their team, via the “timed finals” system (and the field events took longer than usual, too).
The competitors entering with the best marks ran in the last heats. So, to get to the podium if you did not enter the meet in the top eight, you likely needed to run the fastest you ever have and then cross your fingers.
That’s what Moanalua hurdler Jalon Harris did in the 300-meter hurdles. His 40.74 in the second of three sections was a personal best, and after the final heat a couple minutes later it was good enough for third place — in an event where he’d placed fifth in the league championship meet.
Harris’ stepping up relieved Na Menehune coach Earl Kishimoto from some temporary anxiety.
“Getting points from the second heat is a really good bonus,” he said. “Especially since we had a problem in the 4×100 (relay).”
Oftentimes it’s seemingly little things like this that make the difference when a team is contending for a championship. And, they’re quite dramatic if they happen at the end of the meet, like Mid-Pacific freshman Mia Takashima triple jumping the Owls into their first-ever state championship with a hop, skip and jump that propelled her to third place in the event and a tie with Punahou for the team state championship. The Buffanblu girls won for the sixth time in the last seven state meets.
“I didn’t perform well on my previous jump,” Takashima said.
Her teammates, fellow freshman Riley Quan and senior Destiny Look, helped her relax and focus, she said.
Look had already done her part, sweeping the jumps and the hurdles events. That’s 50 of MPI’s 62 points.
Also, thanks to research by the Star-Advertiser’s Jerry Campany, we know that Look finishes her prep career tied with four others for an all-time Hawaii state meet career record of nine gold medals.
As for Moanalua’s boys, Kishimoto didn’t really need to fret, since sprinter Jayden Grevious doubled, and James Millare duplicated his effort of 2025 by winning all three distance events. Millare also anchored Na Menehune in the 4×800 relay, bringing home the gold after starting his leg in third place, at least 10 yards off the lead.
The senior finished his two years in Hawaii with two state cross country championships and two triple crowns in the distance events at the state track and field championships — the first boy to ever do that here.
Millare did not appear to be tested in his first three events Saturday, walking normally and smiling just a few seconds after winning the 1,500 in 4:03.14.
There was talk he might run the 4×400 relay, just a few minutes after the 3,000. But it was a hot day, so everyone had to wonder how much he had left in the tank.
It’s quite rare for the 3,000 meters to end in a closer finish than the shortest sprints, but that’s what happened here. Grevious won the 100 in 10.80, with Ronin Fanelli of ‘Iolani second in 11.10. Grevious later also won the 200, in 22.07, with Maui’s Jonah Cariaga second at 22.59.
Millare and Radford’s Stephen Kozuma sprinted side-by-side at the end of the 3,000 meters. It looked like the taller Kozuma had the advantage for a final lean, but Millare crossed first … by 8/100ths of a second. The times were 9:00.74 and 9:00.82. What a spectacular way for the most complete two-year performance in boys distance running in state history to end.
Millare is not much of a talker, but he did compliment Kozuma, saying, “I always expect a lot out of him.”
Kozuma, who was also second in the 1,500, spoke of how Millare brought out the best in him.
“James is one of the best athletes in the country,” Kozuma said. “I’m grateful to have someone like him to compete against, even though I lost to him around 20 times. Two-time state runner-up isn’t so bad.”
Please, Stephen, please. Please tell me that you are not a senior.
“Yes, I’m a junior,” Kozuma said. “Next year is my year.”
Continue reading...
