'Iolani Invitational XC Meet at Wheeler Air Force Base
September 20, 2008
by Al Linsky
It was hot and humid at Wheeler Air Force Base, but the times were fast for the more than 1000 runners on the very flat and mostly grass course.
The first race of the day was a three mile girls open.
The race was dominated by a very strong Dana Hills team, but was highlighted by a strong individual 'Iolani performance by Breanne Ball who finished 8th in a time of 20:48.8. The other scoring runners for the Raiders were Kai Taniguchi, Shelby Senaga, Farron Choe and Kirsten Peterson.
In the boys open the Raiders were led by Rory Zia who finished 10th in a time of 18:34.04. The Raiders finished third behind an awesome Laguna Beach team (a perfect 15 points) and Kamehameha. Other scoring Raiders were Daniel Barr, Daniel Luke, Chad Kuwana and Gavin Yorimoto.
The girls varsity is currently dealing with injuries to some key runners. Jenna Wong, though, had one of her best races in a running career that has been marked by many great performances. Her eighth place finish in a time of 18:56.16 placed her as the second local finisher behind Sarah Clapp of Kaiser.
Other scoring runners for the varsity included Rachael Mintzlaff, Leyna Esaki, Phoebe Jordan and Elysse Tom.
The boys varsity was the top local team, only finishing behind a strong mainland team from Laguna Beach. The boys had 3 place in the top 10, led by Borys Pleskacz at 6th, Tyler Mulloy at 8th, and Justin Higa at 10th. Troy Esaki was 11th and Andrew Ellison was 24th.
The girls intermediate team placed first, edging out the team from Rivera. The girls were led by Casey Morrissey who finished 3rd in a time of 13:15.84. Kiana Harpstrite also cracked the top 10 at 8th. Close behind were Kristi Kaneta at 14th, Paige Omura at 16th, and Emily Tanaka at 26th.
The intermediate boys finished 4th led by Ian Wong, Ryan Lum, Kenton Nakamura and Nicholas Liu. Ryan Mori and Connor Mulloy were only seconds behind.
To see more photos, please visit iolani-events.org.
