Sunday’s Peaman Whirled Peas Biathlon held at Kaiakeakua Beach attracted over 100 participants to compete in the long course ½-mile swim and 2-mile run, or the shorter LavaKids Peawee course featuring a 200-yard swim and 1-mile run.
For Frozen Peas Production race organizer, Sean “Peaman” Pagett, the morning was just another perfect opportunity to offer families and Keiki something fun to do on a beautiful Sunday in Kona.
“Being that we are trying to get things back post-COVID, the focus nowadays is all on the kids,” Peaman said. “When I see the swim team kids, families coming, kids running around barefoot, it just warms my heart. I just love seeing the kids out here doing this stuff.”
Peaman recalled the biathlons were much different in the earlier years of the event’s 33-year history, where it attracted a highly competitive adult field.
“You remember how it was in the old days, it was more competitive, people really cared about their times and split times, the results were super important,” he said. “But now, it’s more about participation and community, so it’s just nice to see everybody get together, have a good time, exercise, but for the most part, I find there are more kids here than adults.”
Biathletes once again took off as a mass swim start in Kailua Bay, with the younger Keiki beginning from the beach.
The first individuals to exit Kaiakeakua Beach from the long course ½-mile swim before transitioning to the 2-mile run were Kealakehe High School cross country and swimming standout, Aiden Ankrum, and Hawaii County Firefighter, Keahi Parker.
Hot on their heels were a group of Ankrum’s cross country and swimming teammates — Cameron Cornforth, Archer Ankrum, Levi Childers, and Peaman.
Thankfully, spectators at the finish line didn’t have to wait long to find out who would claim the Peaman Whirled Peas Biathlon title. As the overall winner came into view, the smooth stride and long locks were a dead giveaway that Aiden Ankrum held onto his lead to win his first biathlon title in a time of 25 minutes and 36 seconds.
“I knew they were going to come on strong because we have been running together (as a team) so I was definitely very nervous getting out of the swim knowing all of them were behind me,” said the 17-year old Kealakehe senior shortly after crossing the finish line. “So, I made the decision right away to go out fast and just try to hold it. At the turnaround, I could’ve sworn that I heard some of them behind me, so that gave me a lot of motivation to come back stronger and to push extra deep coming home.”
Ankrum said he was happy with his 2-mile run time which his cross-country coach, Patrick Bradley, clocked the effort at right under 12 minutes. Ankrum plans to compete in cross-country, swimming and then track during his senior year.
“I’m super excited that Peamans are back and even more super excited that we’re all here doing great.”
Kealakehe teammates, Levi Childers and Cameron Cornforth, settled for second and third place with their times of 26:34 and 27:16 respectively.
On the women’s side, Mady Parker, who is a fourth-grade teacher at Kahakai Elementary School and also the women’s water polo coach for Kealakehe High School, easily won the ½-mile swim and 2-mile sprint in a fabulous time of 31:24.
“It feels good,” Parker said of finishing first. “I love that Peaman is doing a shorter run distance because I feel that’s the only way I can win. Doing a longer swim and shorter run is more in my wheelhouse. Overall, I feel Peamans are a great experience for everyone.”
Parker said that in addition to teaching and coaching, she plans to work with some of the high school student-athletes, like Aiden Ankrum, toward getting a boy’s water polo club team up and running. Currently the Big Island only offers girl’s high school water polo with no boys, novice, or “youth feeder” programs available for athletes.
“While I’m in my third year coaching, this past year was my first full season post-COVID coaching girls water polo for Kealakehe High School,” said Parker, who was a collegiate water polo athlete for UH Manoa. “With Aiden, he has been really gung-ho to getting a water polo team for the boys going, so we are hoping to get a club started this fall.”
Kailua-Kona’s Jennifer Nottage was next to cross the finish line in a time of 33:49, with Kela Queen in third at 35:49.
In the shorter LavaKids PeaWee course featuring a 200-yard swim and 1-mile run, Amelia “Mia” Yamasaki separated herself from the field with her time of 11:54. Zetta Freitas was next to finish in 12:51, followed by Yamasaki’s younger sister, Norah Yamasaki, who placed third in 14:04. The top male finisher was Goose Gagnon, who finished fourth overall in a time of 15:03.
“It feels really surprising but it feels good,” said Yamasaki of winning her first LavaKids PeaWee title. “It feels surprising because I’ve never thought of myself as a first-place winner.”
The 10-year old Innovation Public Charter School 5th grader who swims for Kona Aquatics added that she enjoys the competition against other people.
“I find that as I get older, I’m competing against kids with more experience so I feel that my competitiveness is increasing as well just to be at the same level. But I like competition.”
Yamasaki said she aspires to be a triathlete someday, like her mother, Laura Yamasaki, and feels she equally enjoys swimming and running.
“But if I had to choose, I’d go with the swim,” she said. “I think swimming with the Kona Aquatics helped a lot today, just knowing that I swim a lot in the pool and I do a lot of ocean water swimming, so I think that helped to boost my confidence.”
For Peaman, looking at the big picture of getting everyone outside and back to being active is most important to getting past COVID-19.
“We really needed to get back and have a community, have social interactions along with the physical activity. I think it’s ever so important now — after Covid — for people to get back, get healthy, just the interrelation between people because we were so isolated for so long. So, looking at the bigger picture, I think the most important thing right now is getting people to be active and social again.”
Peaman’s Whirled Peas Biathlon
Sunday, July 31, 2022
Peaman 1/2 Mile Swim – 2 Mile Run
Place Name Gender Time
1 Aiden Ankrum Male 25:36.2
2 Levi Childers Male 26:34.1
3 Cameron Cornforth Male 27:16.3
4 Archer Ankrum Male 27:36.9
5 Peaman Male 29:01.1
6 Keahi Parker Male 30:08.0
7 Mady Parker Female 31:24.5
8 Dan Gampon Male 31:34.9
9 Adam Hornick Male 33:28.2
10 Jennifer Nottage Female 33:49.3
11 Joe Catanzaro Male 35:47.8
12 Kela Queen Female 35:49.6
13 Melissa Dellatorre Female 38:51.4
14 John Ferdico Male 39:03.7
15 Amber Norwood Female 39:08.3
16 Kella Quayle Female 39:23.6
17 Reece Lustik Female 39:24.5
18 Maria Oka Female 39:55.6
19 Mike Medina Male 41:14.0
20 Rick Rubio Male 41:15.1
21 Bruce Wacker Male 41:16.4
22 Courtney Gullickson Female 41:47.3
23 Lexie Wright Female 42:22.6
24 Taylor Johnson Female 42:48.4
25 Jeremy Lustik Male 44:33.9
26 Ricci Bezona Male 45:07.0
27 Grady Rodgers Male 45:28.2
28 Natasha Clark Female 45:49.3
29 Linda Pollack Female 47:32.4
30 Pam Miller Female 48:39.3
31 Michael Traub Male 50:47.7
32 Louann Griego Female 54:05.9
33 Maiki Cofer Female 55:13.5
34 Samantha Koches Female 56:49.4
35 Bill Culhane Male 59:17.1
36 Serena Spitalsky Female 1:01:39.1
37 Graciela Del Rio Female 1:01:40.6
38 Paul Male 1:03:16.9
39 Mamo Female 1:03:17.6
Peaman 1/2 Mile Swim – 2 Mile Run *Assisted
1 Lori Montgomery Female 40:00.5
2 Dane Enos Male 40:37.3
3 Olena Kaawa Female 46:47.0
4 Ehu Kaawa Female 47:25.8
Peaman 1/2 Mile Swim – 2 Mile Run RELAY
1 Natasha Clark / Laura Ankrum Female 45:50.2
2 Mike Medina / Kealoha Curnan Medina Coed 1:02:20.7
3 Mike Medina / Gwen Campbell Coed 1:02:22.9
Peawee 200 Yard Swim – 1 Mile Run
1 Amelia Yamasaki Female 11:54.0
2 Zetta Freitas Female 12:51.6
3 Norah Yamasaki Female 14:04.0
4 Goose Gagnon Male 15:03.5
5 Toa Clements Male 15:05.4
6 Ezekiel Basingapalu Male 15:08.8
7 Daniel Mast Male 15:30.4
8 Stanley Tanimoto Male 16:49.4
9 Jojo Yegge Male 17:16.5
10 Andrea Murana Female 17:32.5
11 Mei Sim Chan Female 17:48.6
12 Tua Palu-Soares Male 18:15.3
13 Malia Swinkels Female 18:23.3
14 Spencer Laux Male 19:06.6
15 Lilyann Pires Female 19:31.8
16 Kalawena Sohriakoff Female 19:35.1
17 Tiffany Freitas Female 19:36.1
18 Kekupulamaku Correa Female 19:43.1
19 Maya Anderson Female 21:10.8
20 Hao Ynigues Male 21:25.5
21 Craig Ynigues Male 21:31.4
22 Tevita Pali Male 23:24.0
23 Kamanawa Sohriakoff Male 23:27.8
24 Christina Sohriakoff Female 23:29.8
25 Aliyah Besa Female 23:35.4
26 Acisco Besa Male 23:37.5
27 Hina Palu Female 23:50.8
28 Leia Ayau Female 24:10.8
29 Gracie Lee Female 24:11.8
30 Evan Palu Male 27:36.0
31 David Palu Male 27:43.1
32 Sunja Correia Female 28:28.2
33 Travis Correia Male 28:29.5
Peawee 200 Yard Swim – 1 Mile Run *Assisted
1 Raen Henderson Male 15:39.6
2 Rani Henderson Female 15:40.8
3 Shayne Gaspar Male 16:22.6
4 Noah Davis Male 17:35.6
5 La’i Kaawa Female 19:28.1
6 Jessie Kaawa Female 19:29.7
7 Shinbi Tanimoto Female 19:51.2
8 Kameaio Correia Male 28:25.5
Peawee 200 Yard Swim – 1 Mile Run RELAY
1 Shayne Gaspar / Kama Gaspar Male 16:39.9
1 Mile Run
1 Zion Clements Male 16:24.8
2 Thomas Clements Male 16:28.4
3 Tyler Pires Male 23:33.3
4 Greta Dospoy Female 37:40.8
1/2 Mile Swim
1 Kuulei Patterson Female 13:44.4
2 Borboleta Female 30:25.5
3 Fatima Penteado-Martin Female 36:22.6
1/2 Mile Swim – 1 Mile Run
1 Miki Oka Female 34:11.9
1/2 Mile Swim – 1 Mile Run *Assisted
1 Ka’umea Lind-Strauss Female 47:25.5
2 Mile Run
1 Jose Delgado Male 14:11.7
2 Noah Rosenbloom Male 14:12.8
3 Sawyer Laux Male 22:28.9
4 Mike Schiff Male 22:42.5
5 Smerk Marcus Male 27:14.3
6 Cindy/Buddy Culhane Female 32:00.9
7 Wesam/Leyla Agha Female 37:36.7
8 Chanedy Dois Female 37:39.2
200 Yard Swim – 2 Mile Run
1 Owen Pires Male 33:15.2
2 Ed Lustik Male 33:16.3
3 Vasco Frietas Male 33:23.2
4 Kyle Jones Male 37:42.7