[ HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETICS ]

FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM Kahuku's Krisha Kai, second from left in orange, won the state girls 100-meter high hurdles championship yesterday at the state meet in Mililani.

Dignam carries
Iolani into history

The Raiders' girls track team
wins its first state title; Punahou
repeats as boys champion

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By Dave Reardon
dreardon@starbulletin.com

Lauran Dignam of Iolani capped one of the most outstanding Hawaii high school track and field careers in style last night, winning five events at the Island Movers Hawaii High School Athletic Association Track and Field state championships at Mililani.

Dignam's performance, which included setting a record in the 200 meters (25.04 seconds), led the Raiders to a historic team victory. It is Iolani's first girls state track and field title since the formerly all-boys school first fielded a team in 1984.

"I guess we made history, pretty much," said Dignam, whose grandparents Ray and Laura Jones came from California to watch this meet rather than graduation. "I'm tired, but happy."

Earl Hedani is the only girls head coach Iolani has had.

"We had a leader in Lauran and great support from the young kids," Hedani said.

Punahou, which had won the previous six championships and 26 overall, finished second with 46.5 points.

But the Buffanblu boys successfully defended their title, getting points from expected and unexpected sources. Punahou won its second-consecutive and 28th state title with 51 points. Kamehameha was second with 44.

FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM St. Louis' Jason Rivers, left, beat Kamehameha's Tyler Perkins in the 100-meter dash yesterday.

"This was a different kind of win for us," Buffanblu coach Louis Johnson said. "Normally Punahou wins one (individual) first and does well in the relays."

But the gold flowed for the Buffanblu boys last night, despite a lack of sprinters.

Jason Ching, who came in to the meet unheralded and with a nagging injury, stepped up with victories in the high jump and the triple jump.

"Everything just came together," said Ching, who was bothered most of the season by an ankle sprain. "I worked hard, but I didn't expect this."

It was no surprise that Todd Iacovelli doubled in the 1,500 and 3,000 meters for the second consecutive year. But he continues to break records -- last night he covered the 3,000 in 9:01.6 for a new meet mark.

He preferred to talk about the meet rather than his new record.

"We knew we were in for a war," he said, as Kamehameha led midway. "Kamehameha runs hard and smart."

The Warriors' Jesse Lee successfully defended his 300-meter hurdle title, despite a serious arm injury incurred at practice Monday -- at Punahou.

"I'm kind of bummed though," Lee said. "It was my dream to win the 110, too."

Punahou's Dane Uperesa offset Kamehameha's Brandon Ala's win in the discus (174-11 with one of his own in the shot put (52-11).

St. Louis' Jason Rivers also doubled and broke a record. He won the 100 in 11.05 despite a poor start, and 200 in a record 22.09.

FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM Ryan Guillermo of St. Louis won the boys 110-meter hurdles during yesterday's state track championships in Mililani.

While the boys meet was close right to the end, Iolani's girls were in control throughout.

When Karlyn Young, Stacey Higa, Jessika Ngirblekuu and Dignam won with a clean and fast (50.04) 4x100 relay, the Raiders seemed destined to win.

"We'd had some trouble with passes earlier this season, but it came together tonight," Dignam said.

But the Buffanblu did get a bit of hope when junior Pippa Macdonald won her third straight 800 meters state championship. It was the seventh in a row between her and sister Eri. Macdonald completed the two laps in 2:15.72. Next year she'll shoot for her sister's record of 2:14.2.

Seabury Hall sophomore Tia Ferguson hopes to go for the 800 title next year. She won the 1,500 and the 3,000 last night.

Could she have tripled?

"Yes, I think I could have. I'm already excited about next year," Ferguson said. "I had awesome teammates to run with this year. It was an incredible season."

One of those teammates was Kyle Ellison, who managed to win the 800 meters despite splitting his efforts here with the state tennis championships on Maui.

Ellison lost in the singles quarterfinals in tennis Friday, but the baseball pitcher and basketball player finished his high school career in style.

"I'm stoked," Ellison said. "I spent last night half thinking about finishing tennis and half looking forward to this. It's great to finish this way."

As it was for Iolani's girls. They wrapped it up with a win in the 4x400 as Ngirblekuu, Christi Morrissey, Young and Dignam won in 4:01.66.

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HHSAA TRACK AND FIELD RESULTS

Yesterday
At Mililani High School
Varsity boys
Final team standings

1. Punahou 51, 2. Kamehameha 44, 3t. Roosevelt and St.Louis 26, 5. St. Anthony 16, 6. King Kekaulike 14, 7t. Baldwin and Kahuku 12, 9. Maui 11.5, 13. Iolani 6.5, 14. Radford 6, 15t. Mililani and Kealakehe 5, 17. Keaau 4, 18t. Molokai, Lutheran and Castle 3, 21. Lahainaluna 2.5, 22t. Kailua, Konawaena and Kaiser 2, 25. Farrington 1, 26. Hilo .5.

Individual results

110 Meter Hurdles

1. Ryan Guillermo, St. Louis, 15.01. 2. Brandon Kai, Punahou, 15.08. 3. Kyle Wade, Radford, 15.20.

100 Meter Dash

1. Jason Rivers, St. Louis, 11.05. 2. Tyler Perkins, Kamehameha, 11.09. 3. Timothy Flowers, Leilehua, 11.14.

1,500 Meter Run

1. Todd Iacovelli, Punahou, 4:13.44. 2. Joshua Enos, Keaau, 4:16.61. 3. Kyle Ellison, Seabury, 4:17.16.

4x100 Meter Relay

1. Maui (Peter Pigao, Walter Fune, Dane Patao, Philip Fernandez), 43.03. 2. Kamehameha 43.28. 3. St. Anthony 43.48.

400 Meter Dash

1. Matt Linder, King K, 49.88. 2. Marcus Weems, Kealakehe, 50.14. 3. Nick Frazier, Kamehameha, 50.22.

300 Meter Hurdles

1. Jesse Lee, Kamehameha, 39.10. 2. Shown Francis, Roosevelt, 39.47. 3. JD Potter, Molokai, 40.00.

800 Meter Run

1. Kyle Ellison, Seabury, 1:59.81. 2. Patrick Morrissey, Iolani, 2:00.50. 3. Jon Cardenas, Lutheran, 2:01.03.

200 Meter Dash

1. Jason Rivers, St. Louis, 22.09. 2. Jerry Perreira, Roosevelt, 22.45. 3. Timothy Flowers, Leilehua, 22.57.

Boys 3000 Meter Run

1. Todd Iacovelli, Punahou, 9:01.80. 2. Leif Kohler, King K, 9:23.23. 3. Cheyenne Diaz, Castle, 9:24.20.

4x400 Meter Relay Finals

1. Roosevelt 3:24.38. 2. Kamehameha 3:25.80. 3. St. Anthony 3:26.81.

High Jump

1. Jason Ching, Punahou, 6-06. 2. Keith DeVey, St. Anthony, 6-04. 3. Robin Goltze, Lahainaluna, 6-02. 3. Chad Miller, Iolani, 6-02.

Pole Vault

1. Linden Wada, Baldwin, 14-00. 2. Pili Kitashima, Kamehameha, 13-06. 3. Jay Hanamura, Punahou, J13-06.

Discus Throw

1. Brandon Ala, Kamehameha, 174-11. 2. Jerrod Avegalio, Kahuku, 169-07. 3. Dane Uperesa, Punahou, 151-03.

Shot Put

1. Dane Uperesa, Punahou, 52-11. 2. Jerrod Avegalio, Kahuku, 52-01. 3. Tala Esera, Kahuku, 49-10.50.

Long Jump

1. Marcus Felder, Pearl City, 20-11.75. 2. John Spencer, King K, 20-10.25. 3. Sam Tolutau, Baldwin, 20-08.

Triple Jump

1. Jason Ching, Punahou, 45-07.75. 2. Derek Turbin, Punahou, 44-10. 3. Waika Spencer, Kamehameha, 44-09.50.

Varsity girls

Final team standings

1. Iolani 64, 2. Punahou 46.5, 3. Baldwin 27, 4. Kahuku 26, 5t. SacredHearts and Hilo 21, 7. King Kekaulike 19, 8. SeaburyHall 12, 9. Kaiser 10, 10t. St. Joseph and Maryknoll 8, 12. Kau 5, 13t. Kamehameha and Pearl City 4, 15. Mililani 3.5, 16. Lahainaluna 2, 17t. Waimea, Castle and Kapaa 1.

Individual results

100 Meter Hurdles

1. Krisha Kai, Kahuku, 15.53. 2. Jessica Rohr, Kaiser, 15.56. 3. Jennifer Lau, Punahou, 16.08.

100 Meter Dash

1. Lauran Dignam, Iolani, 12.40. 2. Lauren Amano, Baldwin, 12.75. 3. Kuulei Karratti, Kau, 12.91.

1,500 Meter Run

1. Tia Ferguson, Seabury, 4:44.47. 2. Christal Cuadra, Maryknoll, 4:53.12. 3. Christi Morrissey, Iolani, 4:55.69.

4x100 Meter Relay

1. Iolani (Karlyn Young, Stacey Higa , Jessika Ngirblekuu, Lauran Dignam), 49.63. 2. Sacred Hearts 50.35. 3. Punahou 50.38.

400 Meter Dash

1. Lauran Dignam, Iolani, 55.82. 2. Carly Killam, Punahou, 59.69. 3. Healani Leite-Ah Yo, Kamehameha, 1:00.40.

300 Meter Hurdles

1. Amy Malinowski, St. Joseph, 45.51. 2. Jessica Rohr, Kaiser, 46.16. 3. Jennifer Lau, Punahou, 47.69.

800 Meter Run

1. Pippa Macdonald, Punahou, 2:15.72. 2. Christi Morrissey, Iolani, 2:20.04. 3. Carmen Calpo, Pearl City, 2:22.29.

200 Meter Dash

1. Lauran Dignam, Iolani, 25.04*. 2. Lauren Amano, Baldwin, 26.15. 3. Noelle Yempuku, Sacred Heart, 26.32.

3000 Meter Run

1. Tia Ferguson, Seabury, 10:16.95. 2. Christal Cuadra, Christal, Maryknoll, 10:36.09. 3. Nicole Anderson, Iolani, 10:51.40.

4x400 Meter Relay

1. Iolani (Jessika Ngirblekuu, Christi Morrissey, Karlyn Young, Lauran Dignam), 4:01.66. 2. Punahou 4:07.22. 3. Sacred Hearts 4:08.81.

High Jump

1. Krisha Kai, Kahuku, 5-01. 2. Zoie Sevilla, Baldwin, J5-01. 3. Nicolette Rowe, Hilo, J5-01.

Pole Vault

1. Nicolette Rowe, Hilo, 10-06. 2. Melanie Pearson, Punahou, 10-00. 2. Chun Mei Nickles, Mililani, 10-00.

Discus Throw

1. Ashley Fely, Kahuku, 132-02. 2. Ashlynn Russell, Baldwin, 130-11. 3. Natalie Fujimoto, Punahou, 118-09.

Shot Put

1. Natalie Fujimoto, Punahou, 41-10.50. 2. Krystal Moore, Hilo, 37-04.50. 3. Ashlynn Russell, Baldwin, 37-02.75.

Long Jump

1. Chandi Bickford, King K, 17-09.50. 2. Catherine Greenlee,Iolani, 16-11.25. 3. Koren Takeyama, Baldwin, 16-08.75.

Triple Jump

1. Chandi Bickford, King K, 36-01. 2. Catherine Greenlee, Iolani, 35-08.75. 3. Krisha Kai, Kahuku, 35-03.75.

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