Kamehameha’s Davis Kaahanui went into the ILH cross country championships with a plan, and that strategy almost worked too well.
Kaahanui, the defending ILH and state champion, went out hard in the hopes that his main challenger, Jacques Hebert of Punahou, would falter late and allow Kaeo Kruse, Kaahanui’s teammate, to catch the Buffanblu’s best. Hebert stayed with Kaahanui for most of the race and slowed down as expected. Kruse caught and passed the senior and then set his sights on the finish line.
"I was expecting to win today, until I saw my guy shoulder-to-shoulder with me," Kaahanui said. "He was like ‘Come on, Ku’, and I was like ‘Holy crap, what?’ It was good."
Kruse forced the champ to go into a full-on sprint the length of the football field where the finish line was, and Kaahanui beat him by leaning forward across the line. Kaahanui covered the distance on the hot, hilly course in 16 minutes, 8.08 seconds. Kruse, a sophomore, finished in 16:08.27 and Hebert took third in 16:37.02.
Kaahanui’s gambit paid off with the team title, as Kamehameha beat Punahou by 13 points. ‘Iolani was third with 55 points to Punahou’s 44 and Kamehameha’s 31.
"I was trying to go out pretty hard so that Kaeo could catch him," Kaahanui said. "So that’s what I did, but he almost caught me. It worked too good. This one was tougher. I wasn’t expecting it to be that close at all, but I am happy about it. Extra team points."
The Honolulu Marathon State Championships are on Kauai on Friday.
‘Iolani sophomore Amanda Beaman went into the ILH championships with states on her mind and tailored her strategy for it. Beaman decided to go out strong just as Kaahanui had, but she executed it to perfection. She led throughout and her margin grew as the race went on, clocking a 19:05.81 to beat Punahou’s three talented sophomores by a wide margin. Noe Obermeyer was second in 19:29.62, Kailey Totherow was third in 19:32.81 and Teri Brady took fourth in 19:37.43. That effort gave the Buffanblu the team title by 29 points over ‘Iolani and 66 over Kamehameha. Punahou had six runners finish in the top 10.
Beaman usually lays back and tries to outkick her opponents, but she changed it up, thinking it might be her only shot at competing with three-time state champion Dakota Grossman of Seabury Hall at states.
"I tried it in the very first race of the season, but it didn’t work so well," Beaman said. "I think I am in a lot better shape and I have a lot better mental state now. I am a lot more confident in my racing and stuff now. I worked hard this year and it paid off."
