By Makanalani Yamanoha
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Team efforts of the JV girls track team made a difference as they won the Oahu Interscholastic Association (OIA) Divisional Championship, while four students, Freshmen Leah Keller, Vanessa Roybal, and Sophomore Gabrielle Fukumoto, received the top scores in their events.
“It felt really good (to win). It didn’t feel like we were dominating the meet, but when we found out, it was cool to know that it was the team’s effort that let us win,” said Roybal, who received a time of 11 minutes and 57.6 seconds time for the 3000-meter run.
Making a time of 61 minutes and 93 seconds for the 400 meter dash, Keller was under heated competition with rival schools. “I was really excited because I got the 61 seconds at the champions meet and I was running against this girl in Campbell and I passed her by (around) 0.04 seconds and I didn’t know if she got first or I got first. So when they announced I got first I did a little happy dance,” explained Keller.
Fukumoto valued the support of her team above all else when she won for the highest jump the triple and high jumps. “Even if one of them does not make the height or is down we can be like, ‘come on, come on. Lets do it.’ My team can be very enthusiastic at times,” said Fukumoto, “Even though I personally won, my score added to my team’s which helped us to win and I felt like (saying), ‘yahoo’.”
The contestants needed to push themselves to meet the expectations of their peers and meet their own standards to prepare for the OIA championship. “Most of the preseason, I was running with most of the varsity but it made me push myself a lot more and It made me get faster times
Then for JV championships, it was just JV so I had to push myself,” said Roybal.
Coach Nathan Aragaki agreed to the same concept, “(We worked on) mental strength and less physical. They have to feel that they could win. And if you don’t think you win you are not going to win.” He was, however, satisfied with the results at the end. “They exceeded our expectations,” he said.
Students will continue to practice their skills as they will continue on to the Hawaii High School Athletic Association Championship.Roybal will be transferring to varsity in the coming season with a few other students, but with hard work and the help from friends, track contestants plan to stay in the sport for the upcoming seasons.
