KEAAU — The cross-country course at Kamehameha starts in the open in full view, but it doesn’t stay that way for long.
Runners quickly reach the trees and become hidden, and fans who want to catch a glimpse of who is winning have to make a short stroll to the first of two turnbacks before the field disappears again.
Following the leaders hasn’t’ meant much this BIIF season anyway. Only the end game matters for Waiakea’s Saya Yabe and Konawaena’s Cody Ranfranz.
So for those fans who simply went to the finish line Saturday and waited to find out who was ahead, in the end they weren’t blind to the knowledge that patterns are emerging after two meets and one preseason run:
Saya’s surge, Cody’s kick
Neither Yabe or Ranfranz are front-runners, and that’s by design for both seniors.
Yabe is running “smarter” this season, and Saturday that meant hanging back in second behind Makua Lani freshman Tia Lurbiecki, finally taking the lead with about 100 yards left to win the 5K in 21 minutes 36.66 seconds, more than four second ahead of Lurbiecki.
Yabe is used to racking up wins during regular-season meets the past two years, but watching Honokaa’s Sophia Cash run by her at the 2015 BIIFs championships, relegating her to runner-up, clearly still stings.
“I just came out here with a new attitude,” Yabe said. “Last year, I put a ton of pressure on myself, and I collapsed at BIIFs, and that is not going to happen this year.”
It’s much easier, she says, to run from behind.
“It’s so hard to stay in the front and keep the pace the entire race,” Yabe said. “My strategy kind of changes.”
The girls race was run at 2 p.m. under brutal conditions. When the boys race went off a little while later, there were more clouds and the breeze appeared to have picked up slightly.
Honokaa’s Shaleina Bird (22:20) held off Waiakea’s Ella Johnson for third, and then the conditions seemed to take a toll as many runners had to be helped shortly after they crossed the finish line.
“It was incredibly hot, and it was really hard to breathe,” Yabe said.
Like Yabe, Ranfranz made it 3-for-3 this season, including a preseason relay with running buddy Lawrence Barrett.
Ranfranz led Saturday for the last mile, and he said he “really had to push it” to overtake Barrett, a senior, to win in 17:39.13.
The goal, Konawaena coach Patrick Bradley said, is to have the Wildcats’ duo finish 1-2 in each race this season.
Ranfranz and Barrett complement each other perfectly.
“He has the speed of a sprinter, so that’s how he pushes me,” Ranfranz said. “I have the endurance to hold out longer than he does.”
Unlike Yabe, Ranfranz isn’t trying to overcome any demons. He’s the top returning boys finisher from BIIFs last season, when the field was practically chasing a ghost in Louie Ondo, a two-time champion from Waiakea.
“I really didn’t think about that,” Ranfranz said. “(Louie) wasn’t really with us anyways. He was just out there (in front).”
Waiakea boys, girls ‘step up’
A slew of Waiakea boys runners have been unable to crack the top two this season, but depth is on the defending champion Warriors’ side.
“I’m just glad (Konawaena) only has two (at the top),” coach Jordan Rosado said. “Those guys are killers.”
Waiakea’s Slater Inouye was third, teammate Adrian Larkspur was fourth, and Eric Cabais-Fernandez, Rylie Cabalse and Shaun Kojima gave the Warriors five finishers in the top 11.
“Slater has stepped up,” Rosado said. “He was really good as a sophomore, kind of slacked off as a junior, kind of in (Ondo’s) shadow.
“This year, I think he’s getting confident.”
Konawaena placed four runners in the top 20, and Bradley – anticipating a battle with Hawaii Prep in the Division II team race at BIIFs – was encouraged that his fifth-place finisher was 36th
As fast as Yabe ran in the girls race, she was almost as quick as she went around and congratulated each Waiakea boys finisher.
“I’m just so proud of them, they’ve been working so hard,” Yabe said, “They are really trying to come back and cement their BIIF championship win.”
Waiakea’s girls, under coach Ipo Rosado, have title aspirations of their own. With Jodi Go in sixth, seven Warriors finished in the top 21. They easily outpointed perennial powerhouse Hawaii Prep, which placed five runners in the top 24.
There is a caveat: Ka Makani had the advantage Aug. 27 at their campus course, which is the site of the only two races that matter in the big picture – BIIFS on Oct. 21 and the HHSAA championships Oct. 29.
Fab frosh
Lurbiecki couldn’t hold off Yabe, but she made a big mark for the Lions in second.
“I think she definitely has the best finish for any cross-country runner for Makua Lani,” said coach Jerry Walsh, a former Lions runner.
Lurbiecki has an athletic background, playing soccer with the Kona Crush.
She took fifth in the opener at HPA, and two weeks later Walsh wasn’t surprised that Lurbiecki was able to hold the lead for most of the race, nor that Yabe overtook her.
“I’m not trying to push her too hard for going for first place,” he said. “I’m really happy with how she is running now.
“I think some of what we are going to be doing in practices is trying to push at the end and knowing how to increase our pace and hold that pace to let everything out at the end.”