KEAAU >> Connor Lehl missed out on a team title in state cross country.
Six and a half months later, he helped Punahou win it all.
The Punahou senior won the boys 1,500- and 3,000-meter runs, helping the Buffanblu win their first team title since 2011 on Saturday at the Island Movers/HHSAA State Track and Field Championships at Keaau High School.
Lehl, the state cross country champion in October, won the 1,500 in 4 minutes, 3.35 seconds and the 3,000 in 9:13.45 as Punahou finished with 120 points. Konawaena was second with 40 points and Damien was third with 38.
“Cross country, it was pretty devastating,” Lehl said. “Prior to the season, we were working so hard. To come away short was definitely a big disappointment. In track, same thing has happened multiple times where we’ve come up short.
Punahou was second in track and field in 2016, third in 2015 and second in 2014. The last team to score over 100 points at the state meet was Kamehameha in 2015 with 113. The Punahou girls scored 1032⁄3 in 1992, when fewer points were awarded to place finishers.
Alama Uluave doubled up with golds in the shot put and discus, part of Punahou’s depth that overwhelmed the field. The Buffanblu scored points in 12 of 16 events. Uluave and Miki Suguturaga grabbed the top two spots in the discus.
“It means a lot, especially for our seniors,” Uluave said. “It’s been a long time. Everyone is excited.”
The format of field events was modified this year as single-day events as opposed to a trials and finals format held over two days for running events. Uluave won the discus on Friday and shot put on Saturday.
“You get to focus on the event of the day,” Uluave said. “It really works well.”
With the number of athletes on the team, Lehl said coach Micah Pavich keeps the squad together.
“All of our guys, they know exactly what they’re doing,” Lehl said. “Our coaching is so good, especially team chemistry. Coach Pavich, he makes sure all the guys have good chemistry with each other. We all know each other so well.”
Damien’s Christian Padron set the state record in the boys 100 dash in 10.63 seconds, won the 200 and helped the Monarchs capture the 4×100 relay. His brother, Jonathan, won the 100 in the 2009 state meet at Keaau.
“Honestly, it feels really good to be the second Padron to get a state (title),” Padron said.
The Monarchs, with four seniors running, won the 4×100 in 42.60 and Padron came back later in the meet to win the 200 in 21.97.
“I trusted all my guys running and we all trusted each other,” Padron said. “We were all focused and came out on top. We left a mark at Damien and that team has been together since freshman year. Just to make it here and be state champs, it means everything to us.”
Konawaena won the 4×400 relay, helping the Wildcats claim the runner-up trophy in the meet’s final event. Other winners were Waianae’s Douglas Mitchell in the high jump, Isaiah Harris of Waipahu in the triple jump, Kamehameha’s Jacob Wright in the long jump, Trenton Wailehua of Saint Louis in the 400, Rey Cadiz of Baldwin in the 110 hurdles, Carver Locke of Lahainaluna in the 300 hurdles, ‘Iolani’s Logan Rubasch in the pole vault and Kaiser’s Nicholas Georgia in the 800.
BOYS RESULTS AT KEAAU
TEAM
1. Punahou 120. 2. Konawaena 40. 3. Damien 38. 4 (tie), ‘Iolani 29, Kamehameha 29. 6. Baldwin 28. 7. Saint Louis 23. 8. Leilehua 20. 9. Kaiser 17. 10. Waianae 14. 11. Lahainaluna 12.50. 12. Campbell 12. 13. Hilo 11. 14 (tie), Island School 10, Kamehameha-Maui, Waipahu 10, Kalaheo 10. 18. Mililani 9. 19 (tie), Mid Pacific 8, Aiea 8, Farrington 8. 22. Kapolei 6. 23 (tie), Castle 4, Waiakea 4, McKinley 4, Seabury Hall 4. 27, Radford 3. 28. Maui 2. 29. Kailua 1.50. 30. Kauai 1.
INDIVIDUAL
>> Shot put finals
1. Alama Uluave, Punahou, 54-09.25. 2. Ahofitu Maka, Farrington, 53-11.00. 3. Ferenisi Lualemaga, Aiea, 52-03.00. 4. Jarred Paranada, Baldwin, 51-03.00. 5. Monty Payne, Damien, 50-06.50. 6. Kalai Ortiz, Kamehameha, 48-02.50. 7. Lokahi Pauole, Kamehameha, 47-08.50. 8. Mahonri Anitema, Maui, 47-07.00.
>> Long jump finals
1. Jacob Wright, Kamehameha, 23-01.00. 2. Ronald Norbrey II, Campbell, 22-04.50. 3. Andrei Iosivas, Punahou, 22-00.00. 4. Keala Martinson, Punahou, 21-08.50. 5. Jaykob Cabunoc, Kamehameha, 21-05.00. 6. Jaymen Yadao, Mililani, 21-00.00. 7, Eamon Brady, Punahou, 20-10.00. 8 (tie), Isaiah Tanner, Lahainaluna, 20-08.25 and Carl Justin Hermosura, Pearl City, 20-08.25.
>> Pole vault finals
1. Logan Rubasch, ‘Iolani, 15-00.00. 2. J. Kai Yamafuji, Punahou, J15-00.00. 3, Quinn Hottendorf, Kamehameha-Maui, 14-06.00. 4. Nick Kapule, Punahou, J14-06.00. 5. Christian Ellis, Hilo, 14-00.00. 6. Maddux Kimura, Punahou, J14-00.00. 7 (tie), Jamir Bryant, Roosevelt, 13-00.00, Kainoa Andrade, Kamehameha, 13-00.00, Edward Omine, Baldwin, 13-00.00, Micah Hee, Kamehameha, 13-00.00, Tyler Park, Kamehameha, 13-00.00.
>> 110-meter hurdles finals
1. Rey Cadiz, Baldwin, 14.58. 2. John Dimuro, Baldwin, 14.85. 3. Damion Scandrick, Leilehua, 14.91. 4. Tanner Moku, Kamehameha, 14.91. 5. Edilito Ranchez, Maui, 15.11. 6. Carver Locke, Lahainaluna, 15.34. 7. Kamui Peeples, Kailua, 15.56.
>> 100-meter dash finals
1. Christian Padron, Damien, x-10.63 (previous record 10.75, Justin Desaki, Kamehameha, 2016). 2. Roman Wilson, Saint Louis, 10.81. 3. Jacob Schmidt, Leilehua, 10.88. 4. Isaiah Payne, Seabury Hall, 10.91. 5. Jaratt Kaopuiki-Ota, Mililani, 11.00. 6. Mitchell Quinn, Saint Louis, 11.02. 7. Lukas Kuipers, Hilo, 11.02. 8. Riley Patterson, Hilo, 11.21.
>> 1,500-meter run finals
1. Connor Lehl, Punahou, 4:03.35. 2. Jason Wang, ‘Iolani, 4:09.64. 3. Jesse Wysard, Punahou, 4:15.03. 4. Narayana Schneider, McKinley, 4:15.80. 5. Timothy Schiller, Mililani, 4:16.37. 6. Kane Casillas, Kauai, 4:16.47. 7. Timothy Chang, Punahou, 4:16.53. 8. Garret Smith, Kapaa, 4:21.74.
>> 4×100-meter relay finals
1. Damien 42.60. 2. Hilo 42.68. 3. Punahou 42.84. 4. Mililani, 42.90. 5. Kamehameha 43.62. 6. Radford 44.16. 7. Baldwin 44.22. 8. Campbell 44.99.
>> 400-meter dash finals
1. Trenton Wailehua, Saint Louis, 49.22. 2. Jacob Schmidt, Leilehua, 50.24. 3. Hauoli Akau, Konawaena, 50.25. 4. Shon Sare, Waiakea, 50.66. 5. Aaron Rivas, Kaiser, 50.95. 6. Avery Curet, ‘Iolani, 51.62. 7. Brendan James, Seabury Hall, 52.31. 8. Donovan Brown, Punahou, 52.33.
>> 300-meter hurdles finals
1. Carver Locke, Lahainaluna, 39.89. 2. Kilikai Ahuna, Island School, 40.50. 3. Tanner Moku, Kamehameha, 40.61. 4. Lucas Milne, Punahou, 40.66. 5. Payton Mulleitner, Kamehameha, 41.61. 6. Bretman Sacayanan, Campbell, 42.08. 7. Kamui Peeples, Kailua, 42.43. 8. Matthew April, Roosevelt, 43.20.
>> 800-meter run finals
1. Nicholas Georgia, Kaiser, 1:58.55. 2. Lawrence Barrett, Konawaena, 1:59.85. 3. Josiah Vallez, Konawaena, 2:00.13. 4. Hudson Lockette, Castle, 2:00.32. 5. Kyrus Lancaster, Campbell, 2:00.40. 6. Sydney Mizukami, Kaiser, 2:01.45. 7. Paul McCabe, Punahou, 2:01.75. 8. Rylie Cabalse, Waiakea, 2:05.06.
>> 200-meter dash finals
1. Christian Padron, Damien, 21.97. 2. Reyson Ching, Konawaena, 22.50. 3. Andrei Iosivas, Punahou, 22.64. 4. Mitchell Quinn, Saint Louis, 22.76. 5. Austin Ewing, Konawaena, 23.04. 6. Lukas Kuipers, Hilo, 23.09. 7. Jacob Schmidt, Leilehua, 23.92.
>> 3,000-meter run finals
1. Connor Lehl, Punahou, 9:13.45. 2. Jason Wang, ‘Iolani, 9:14.73. 3. Colby Otero, Kalaheo, 9:15.45. 4. Avery Torres, Kalaheo, 9:18.95. 5. Royce Garcia, ‘Iolani, 9:24.40. 6. Aaron Shiinoki, Punahou, 9:28.08. 7. Nicholas Arima, ‘Iolani, 9:31.94. 8. Steven Chung, Hilo, 9:34.60.
>> 4×400-meter relay finals
1. Konawaena 3:23.21. 2. Punahou 3:27.85. 3. Kapolei 3:28.07. 4. Kaiser 3:28.10. 5. Radford 3:30.23. 6. Kamehameha 3:30.25. 7. Hilo 3:32.55. 8. Baldwin 3:33.99.
MIXED
>> 4×100-meter relay unified
1. Hilo x-55.15 (previous record 55.50, Farrington, 2016). 2. Kaimuki 55.97. 3. Hilo B 56.37. 4. Maui 58.93. 5. Farrington 1:02.80. 6. Hilo C 1:06.34. 7. Maui B 1:08.74.
>> 4×400-meter relay unified
1. Hilo 4:43.78. 2. Kaimuki 4:49.36. 3. Maui 5:26.93. 4. Farrington 5:42.51. 5. Hilo B 5:43.43. 6. Maui B 6:06.27.
x-denotes meet record
