Like only she can, Kamehameha’s Chenoa Frederick got a jump on the competition at the HHSAA track and field championships.
Looking primed to win multiple gold medals for the second year in a row, Frederick repeated as the long champion Friday on Maui, and she still has her most dominant event ahead of her at War Memorial Stadium.
One of six field event finals held on Day 1 of the meet, the Warriors’ junior entered as the top seed and didn’t disappoint, leaping a season-best 18 feet, 02.75 inches, finishing eight inches ahead of the runner-up.
On Saturday, Frederick will defend her state titles in the triple jump — looking for a threepeat, she’s the top seed by more than two feet – and the 100, an event she qualified third in during Friday trials, with Hawaii Prep’s Isabella Police seventh and Konawaena’s Caiya Hanks eighth.
Frederick did not run the 200 after finishing second at BIIFs behind Police. Hanks was the BIIF’s top qualifier in the 200 preliminaries in third, Police with fifth and Jadyn Hanks sixth.
In the boys 100 preliminaries, Hilo’s Riley Patterson reeled off a personal-record time of 10.91 seconds, one of the fastest ever recorded by a BIIF athlete, to qualify fifth. Kealakehe’s Calvin McHone-Todd was sixth. Patterson also qualified for the 200, in seventh, as did Waiakea’s Cheyn Tam-Switzer, in fifth.
In the girls 4×100, Konawaena’s Melina Ramirez, Kiyomi Watanabe, Jadyn Hanks and Caiya Hanks qualified second in 50.73 seconds, the Wildcats’ best effort of the season. A Kauai foursome finished in 50.42.
Also scoring a point Friday for Kamehameha’s was Kay-Leigh Polido, who was sixth in the shot put. In other event finals, Keaau’s Cody Ah Nee took eighth in the discus; Hawaii Prep’s Dean Connors was eighth in the high jump and Kamehameha’s Tai Atkins was eighth in the triple jump.
The other qualifiers for Saturday finals from the Big Island were: Konawaena’s boys 4×400 team in third, with Waiakea fifth; Kealakehe’s Leann Hamilton (800, fourth); Konawaena’s Kiyomi Watanabe (100 hurdles, fifth); Magnus Namohala-Roloos (800, sixth); Waiakea’s Hilo’s Phoebie Wyatt (1,500, sixth); Keaau’s Leilani Stone (1,500, eighth); Waiakea’s girls 4×400 team was sixth, with HPA eighth; Hawaii Prep’s 4x1oo boys team (seventh); and Keaau’s Isaiah Akana (400, eighth)