GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM
Mililani's Chun Mei Nickles and Mei Li Nickles aim for some state records at this weekend's Island Movers State Track and Field Championship.
On the money
Mililani can count on sisters
Chun Mei and Mei Li Nickles
in the state track and field meet
Mei Li Nickles is new to the jumping disciplines of track and field, but it hasn't stopped the Mililani junior from success.
The Nickles sisters
Top track and field events, with OIA meet results, followed by state record
CHUN MEI NICKLES
Pole vault: 10-7 (first place); 11-0 (Kim Higa, Roosevelt, 2000)
100-meter hurdles: 15.66 (first); 14.64 wind-aided (Erin Stovall, Iolani, 1997)
MEI LI NICKLES
Long jump: 17-7 1/2 (first); 19-2 1/2 (Shari Fox, Leilehua, 1979)
High jump: 4-10 (second); 5-5 (Natasha Kai, Kahuku, 1999)
Triple jump: 35-8 (first), 37-834 (Sara Yap, Punahou, 1998)
Nickles won both the long jump and triple jump titles at the Oahu Interscholastic Association meet last weekend. Now she has her sights set on state titles this weekend.
And with older sister Chun Mei Nickles reaching for gold in the pole vault and 100-meter hurdles, the Trojan girls could walk away with their first state track and field crown.
The Island Movers State Track and Field Championship trials are tomorrow with the finals set for Saturday at Kamehameha.
The Mililani girls earned just 3.5 points last year for a 15th-place finish in what coach Dane Matsunaga called a "rebuilding year."
This year should be very different.
Chun Mei, a senior, and Mei Li could combine to compete in as many as 11 events. Mei Li participated in six at the OIA meet, the maximum allowed for an athlete. The sisters combined for four golds and two silvers in individual events and a gold in the 4x100 relay.
Chun Mei -- who was born in Taiwan and shares her mother's name, which means "beautiful spring" -- pared down the number of her events this season to concentrate on what she was best at. Two weeks ago she set a personal standard in the pole vault by clearing 11 feet and 1 inch. The state meet record is 11 feet.
She tied for second at states last year at 10 feet, and won her second straight OIA crown last weekend at 10-7.
"Chun Mei has gone 11 feet twice this year," Matsunaga said. "She's the top seed going in, but (pole vault) is scary because you can easily no-height."
MEI LI -- who explains that her name literally translates to "beautiful beauty," was born in Idaho -- as the family moved around because her father was in the Air Force.
She's been on the varsity squad since her freshman season, but only in the last year or so has she started to focus on the jumps.
"To me, she's only a first-year (jumper)," said Mililani assistant coach Art Katahara, who works with the Trojans on the high jump, triple jump and long jump. "This is the first year I've had her. All her workouts and techniques are (from) this year. She's a raw talent.
"She's a special athlete. She's already shown she has the talent. She's got a lot of heart too, because she does a lot of events."
Besides winning the long jump -- with a personal-best 17-7 1/2 -- and triple jump at OIAs, Mei Li was second in the high jump at 4-10, two inches shy of Kahuku's Krisha Kai winning height.
"In reality, she's only practiced the high jump two or three times the whole year," Katahara said. "And she's already in the top five in heights. I just tell her, 'Mei Li, we need the points,' and she goes out and does it. She's very easy to correct."
She has already set a personal record in the long jump, but Mei Li wants to do even better.
"I want to try for 18 if I can," she said. "That was my goal from the beginning of the year."
The Nickles sisters had their own personal battle in the 100 hurdles last weekend, with Chun Mei edging out Mei Li by .06 of a second, setting a personal best of 15.66 seconds.
"I was in lane 4 and she was in lane 5 and Krisha Kai was in 3," Mei Li said. "We just focused on the race (not each other)."
THE FOCUS last year was very different. Chun Mei found she had arthritis in her hips and missed the first seven weeks of the track season.
"I couldn't do anything (for seven weeks), but after that I did a little bit of rehab," Chun Mei said. "It hurts from time to time, but it's not like before where it hurt 24-7."
Then at the end of the season, Mei Li got tendinitis in her knee and was barely able to compete at states.
"I couldn't walk (part of the week), but somehow that Thursday I was able to run, so I ran and I qualified for the hurdles and the 4x100," Mei Li said. "I didn't medal, but that's OK because at least I got to run."
This season has had its share of physical adversity -- Mei Li has dealt with a bruised heel all season and Chun Mei tore a muscle in her back three weeks ago -- but at this time of the year, the Nickles sisters just shrug off the pain.
"We just take the pain and go (on)," Chun Mei said.
The fact that their family helps them encourage each other.
"It's a good thing. We push each other," Chun Mei said.
Said Mei Li: "We're closer. We do many of the same things and we work at the same place (at the Hickam AFB commissary).
"Even when we go out (we're together). Most of our friends are the same people."
