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Friday, May 5, 2000

Sportsmanship
prevails at ILH track,
field trials

By Dave Reardon
Star-Bulletin

The sun was nearly as warm as the goodwill yesterday afternoon at the Punahou track.

The times, however, weren't that hot. But these were just the trials of the Interscholastic League of Honolulu track and field championships. The finals are tomorrow at 1:30 p.m.

As usual, Buffanblu distance star Victoria Chang congratulated the others who finished behind her, regardless of affiliation.

Iolani sprinter Lauran Dignam spoke of her Punahou competitors who are "friends who happen to go to another school."

And Buffanblu coach Dacre Bowen was among those who marveled at how his boys rallied after losing two key teammates.

If there are any hard feelings between Iolani and Punahou, they were difficult to find yesterday.

These elite private schools have been athletic and academic rivals for generations. It became ugly when Punahou students, including some track athletes, vandalized the Iolani athletic facilities April 23.

It was the boiling over of bad feelings between small groups from each school, which included the scratching of several Punahou students' cars.

Yesterday it was obvious the schools are on their way to putting the negative behind them. Earlier this week, Punahou suspended the two top tennis players in the ILH and two track stars, including a defending state champion.

"Punahou did a good job of disciplining the offenders," Iolani girls' coach Earl Hedani said. "We've always had a good relationship. Our kids are compatible, and they run together in the summer. I know the Punahou coaches felt really bad. (Girls' head coach) Steve Link wrote a letter to us."

Hedani preferred to talk about Dignam, who qualified first in the 100, 200 and 400.

"Her work ethic is fantastic," Hedani said. "She's a quiet leader by example."

Chang is one of the top prep distance runners in the nation. Yesterday she breezed to a first-place qualifying time of 4 minutes, 47.25 seconds in the 1,500 meters. She's a virtual lock to win the 3,000 tomorrow, too. She ran a then-nation's-best 9:38.94 in the ILH final last year, only to improve on it in the state meet.

The scary thing is Dignam and Chang could've been teammates. Chang transferred to Punahou from Iolani before high school. Her two best friends and her brother, John, still go there. Chang's father, Roy, was a top sprinter when he went to Iolani.

Victoria Chang said the Iolani-Punahou rivalry is a friendly one for the vast majority of the student-athletes from both schools.

"If anything, we're like family because we spend so much time together in cross country, track and the summer," she said.

With Chang and Dignam canceling each other out, Punahou has the edge in tomorrow's finals because of overwhelming depth.

That same kind of strength in numbers -- plus a strong dose of resolve -- figures to help the Buffanblu boys.

Punahou athletes ran events out of their specialties to make up for the loss of the two standouts. Shot putter Parker Smith even volunteered for sprints duty.

"Kids come up and ask, 'What can I do?' " Bowen said. "Then they go do it, come back and ask, 'What else can I do?' Everyone feels terrible. But we're looking at this as an occurrence during track season, and not a track incident."

Tomorrow's finals could be very close. Punahou and Kamehameha both qualified 26 times yesterday.

"They're good in the pole vault and the 3,000 (in which there were no trials)," Warriors coach Sam Moku said. "We looked good today, but we've got to put everything together."

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TRACK AND FIELD

ILH Championship Trials

At Punahou track

Leading qualifiers

Boys

110M High Hurdles

1.Travis Ah King (Kamehameha) 15.68

100 Dash

1. Daniel Inferrera (St. Louis), 11.38

1,500 meters

1. Todd Iacovelli (Punahou), 4:21.67.

400 Dash

1. Matthew Alices (Iolani), 51.31.

300 Intermediate Hurdles

1. Travis Ah King (Kamehameha), 40.24.

800

1. Thomas Berger (Punahou), 2:08.03.

200 Dash

1. Matthew Alices (Iolani), 23.43.

Long Jump

1. Brandon Bailey (Kamehameha) 20-01.50.

Triple Jump

1. Jason Ching (Punahou), 42-06.25

Discus

1. Houston Ala (Kamehameha), 172-08.00

Shot Put

1. Parker Smith (Punahou), 49-01.25.

Girls

100 Dash

1. Lauran Dignam (Iolani) 12.77

1,500 meters

1. Victoria Chang (Punahou), 4:47.25

400 Dash

1. Lauran Dignam (Iolani), 59.11.

800 meters

1. Aala Lyman (Kamehameha), 2:25.65.

200 Dash

1. Lauran Dignam (Iolani), 26.42.

Long Jump

1. Kelly Figueira (Sacred Hearts), 18-00

Triple Jump

1. Monica Duester (Pac-5), 34-05.50.

Discus

1. Genia Linear (Iolani), 120-05.00.

Shot Put

1. Natalie Fujimoto (Punahou), 38-00.50