IF track and field is ever going to make a big comeback in this state, it will be because of compelling spectacles like the one I witnessed Saturday at Kaiser High. Stout hearts, fast times, fun
in the sun at Kaiser HighI didn't really plan to spend all afternoon standing and sitting on concrete under a punishing Hawaii Kai sun -- not on a day when I had no deadlines to meet.
Go watch the early discus battle and then take the wife to eat a late lunch. That was my cooler plan.
But just like a Grisham or Clancy novel, the Hawaii High School Athletic Association Track and Field Championships were impossible to abandon.
After watching St. Anthony's Bubba McLean set the first of eight state records on the day with a pole vault of 15 feet, 3 inches, and Iolani's big, agile Ed Taamu whip the discus for a record 181 feet, 11 inches, I wanted to see what Erin Stovall was doing in the long jump.
Stovall, it turned out, was worth the price of admission all by herself.
On Thursday, this remarkable young woman who shies away from praise of her God-given athletic talents, qualified for the finals in six events.
Why would a student who's only a few weeks away from graduation do that to herself?
The answer must be in Stovall's heart.
Only two days earlier, she'd played that heart out in a futile attempt to keep Iolani's basketball season alive.
On Saturday, when she could've been on the beach, Stovall poured everything she had left into the Kaiser track.
She won four individual championships while setting two state records.
One record came in the same 100-meter high hurdles event (14.64) in which she had banged up her knee the week before.
Stovall also anchored two relatively weak Iolani relay teams. Her role was perpetual catchup.
Despite fatigue, she did her best in the 4x100.
After getting the baton third from last, Stovall found enough jet fuel in her veins to rocket past several runners and fall 12/hundredths of a second short of a stunning victory.
Mind you, Stovall's ticket was punched a long time ago -- a full basketball scholarship to the University of Virginia.
She signed after sorting through more than 20 offers and after being named a preseason second-team All-American in Street&Smith's magazine.
On Thursday, Stovall finished her track day on her hands and knees.
On Saturday, she could barely ascend the winner's platform to receive her medals.
Then, after darkness fell, there was Punahou sophomore Eri Macdonald's stirring come-from-behind anchor leg effort against Hawaii Prep's Casey McGuire-Turcotte in the 4x400 relay.
It was the third time I'd seen Macdonald run from behind in a relay this year but this was the most electrifying of all her efforts.
She started the anchor leg well behind one of the state's best distance runners, and she had to fight like a tigress for every inch she gained on McGuire-Turcotte.
When it looked like she might not catch the HPA star, Macdonald surged again with an unmistakable ferocity and a new meet record was established (4:03.32).
Macdonald also had to rally against McGuire-Turcotte to win the 800.
"I like running from behind," said Macdonald, who never has had to come from behind as a cross-country runner.
Track and field has a way of extracting the kind of athletic passion Macdonald is expressing at such a young age.
It's beautiful to watch, and it's too bad the University of Hawaii doesn't have a program to keep some of this passion home.