On Saturday, Feb. 23, athletes from Campbell, Pearl City, Mililani, Nanakuli, Waialua and Waianae High School participated in the first OIA Track and Field meet at the John Kauinana Stadium. Both JV and varsity competed in the first preseason meet and many qualified for their respected division championships. The Trojans, who came off of a strong season last year, had their eyes set on an OIA Championship team title.

    “I was really pleased with the effort. I think once the kids got out of those first race jitters, I think they kind of settled in and ran to the best of their abilities. So we’re really proud of them,” said assistant girls coach Dane Matsunaga.

    The meet started off with the girls 100-meter hurdles and boys 110-meter hurdles. Junior Kai Vutnoski won for the boys varsity division and qualified for varsity OIA Championships with a time of 17.13 seconds. Following the 100-meter hurdles was the 100-meter dash, where Senior Mackenzie Reed qualified for states with a time of 12.83. “I don’t think I prepared that much for this meet so I think if I took care of myself better before the meet I could’ve maybe ran faster,” said Reed.

    After the 100-meter dash, Reed, Senior Ryanne Navarro and Junior Kaela Soberman ran the 400-meter dash. Both Reed and Navarro qualified for states with respected times of 59.33 and 1 minute, 2.65 seconds, while Soberman qualified for varsity OIA Championships with a time of 1 minute, 6.23 seconds. “I hope we win OIAs as a team, do well at states, possibly win and then do good in our relay events,” said Navarro. Reed added, “We are going to win OIAs as a team. What else can we win? We’re going to win everything.”

    On the boys side for the 400-meter dash, Senior Noah Holcomb, Sophomore Luis Garcia and Junior Isaiah Trice took the top three places for the race and qualified for varsity OIA Championships. Following the 400, varsity captain Senior Jaycob Manuel took first place in the 300-meter intermediate hurdles and also qualified for the varsity OIA Championships. Manuel is focused on making sure that his teammates do well throughout this season and leave a firm foundation for the teams in the following years. “As a captain, I want nothing but the best for my team. I want everyone to connect and not be discriminatory to others. The team should be able to share their thoughts without fear of being humiliated,” said Manuel. “Other than that, improvement for the future of this team is another thing. We need to work hard so that we can pass it on to the future teams that come after us.”

    Next was the girls and boys 800-meter run. For the girls, Junior Hope Ishizaka placed first and for the boys Garcia and Senior Dylan Miyamura took first and second place. Ishizaka and Garcia both qualified for varsity OIA Championships. After the 800 was the 200-meter dash. Reed and Trice both qualified for states, while Navarro qualified for varsity OIA Championships. To conclude the running events, the varsity girls entered two teams, Mililani A and Mililani B, for the 4×400 meter relay. Mililani A, which comprised of Freshman Jaylyn Deveraturda, Ishizaka, Soberman and Reed, and Mililani B, who included Junior Hayley Labonte, Junior Malia Boksanski, Junior Tai Phaniphon and Navarro, both qualified for states with a time of 4 minutes, 20 seconds for Mililani A and 4 minutes, 21.15 seconds for Mililani B. The boys 4×400 relay team, made up of Senior Ty Dylan Yang, Senior Ian Tamane, Garcia, and Miyamura, also came in first and qualified for varsity OIA Championships with a time of 3 minutes, 50.05 seconds.

    For the field events, Senior Jailah Bowen qualified for states in the high jump with a height of 5 feet while Senior Michael Enos qualified for varsity OIA Championships with a height of 5 feet, 8 inches. For pole vault, Boksanski qualified for states with a height of 8 feet, 6 inches. On the boys side, Junior Isaac Dagan’s height of 11 feet met the requirements for the  varsity OIA Championships. Bowen also qualified for states in the long jump with a distance of 16 feet, 8 inches. Sophomore Jasmine Abe, Senior Chloe Fong, Phanipon and Labonte all qualified for OIA Championships as well. For the boys long jump, Seniors Reichel Vegas and Trent Schuppe qualified for states with distances of 21 feet, 6 inches and 20 feet, 10 inches. Fong, Abe, Labonte and Schuppe also qualified for varsity OIA Championships for the triple jump in both boys and girls.

    With many running and field event qualifiers at the first meet, the Trojans had a strong start for their season. Coaches and athletes alike had individual and team goals for the season. “My goals for each individual runner and the team varies, but I just want them to work hard and see that if they set goals, they can accomplish anything,” said Matsunaga. Dagan added, “I wanna make sure I can bring out the best in my fellow athletes and make sure we all keep a good and humble attitude throughout the season.”

    The Trojans will host Varsity OIA’s on Saturday, April 20. On May 3 to 4, they will be traveling to Maui for the HHSAA Track States.

Gallery • 10 Photos