2007 Iolani Girls Cross Country Underway
The first meet of the year (and next week) are not scoring meets. That means there are no official results. It's up to each team to time its own athletes and keep track of where all the teams are.
The weather was warm and muggy. The course was wet, slippery, muddy and slow.
Our intermediates led off the day with a very strong showing. Iolani newcomer, Breanne, led almost from wire to wire and was never really challenged. Other strong finishes were accomplished by Valerie (5th), Twyla (9th), and Erin (17th). Cristin (22nd), Malia (23rd) and Mahie (25th) were not far behind.
Unofficially, we would have placed second behind Punahou, which had five finishers in the top ten.
The two mile open race was a bit strange because Punahou decided to run their varsity in this race. Not surprisingly, Punahou finished one through ten. A very encouraging sign, though, was that Phoebe and Elysse (our first finishers) were not far behind. Remember, those top ten runners are all varsity runners from last year's State Championship team.
The varsity race, due to the absence of Punahou, made it a two school duel between Maryknoll and our Raiders. Haley Abing, an accomplished, veteran top runner competing for Maryknoll (she actually attends La Pietra), beat out Maile at the tape to take first place. Maile (2nd), Kim (3rd), Jenna (4th) and Amelia (7th) gave us four finishers in the top ten. Amy (20th) rounded out our scorers, with Miranda and Alissa a bit further behind.
If this race were scored (at least by my unofficial count), we would have been second behind Maryknoll, 34-32. Maryknoll is a unique situation in that Haley is eligible to run for Maryknoll during the ILH season. But, Haley must run for La Pietra at the State Championships. With Julie not running this year (last year's dominant runner from Maryknoll) and Haley not eligible, Maryknoll has some real challenges, but they showed they will still be a strong contender.
And, of course, there always is Punahou who will show their strength later, and Kamehameha who always shows up at the end.
All in all, a great start to the 2007 season!
For more photos, please visit the girls cross country website at http://www.iolani-xc.org/Frameset-Index.htm
