Iron sharpens iron when it comes to Yuta Cole and Ari Smith.
Cole was the boss on Saturday morning. The Kalani senior ran the 5-kilometer course in 16 minutes, 20 seconds to capture the OIA boys individual cross country title.
“I feel pretty good today. It got a little bit hotter, but it was pretty good race conditions,” said Cole, who won the 2022 OIA title with a time of 17:46. “It felt really cool when we got here, so I thought it was going to be a great day. As the sun got out, it got a little humid. It wasn’t too bad.”
Mililani freshman Kaitlyn Bitterman won the girls individual crown. Moanalua captured the girls team title, and Mililani made it back-to-back boys championships.
Conditions at Patsy T. Mink Central Oahu Regional Park were cool and pleasant 45 minutes before race time. By the time the race started at 8:30 a.m., the temperature went from 72 to 75 degrees. It felt more like 88. Tradewinds were just 3 mph and humidity was 73% but felt much heavier, particularly on the last mile. That’s where Cole separated from Smith, a junior from Campbell. The gap went from 10 feet to 40 yards as they went uphill to the baseball fields, then came back down the long slope before the U-turn to the finish. Smith finished at 16:41, ahead of Mililani harriers Payton Mukkada (17:23.10), Robbey Navarro (17:23.96) and Thomas Rosenbalm (17:44).
The time is Cole’s personal record at CORP.
“Last time I won on this course, it was 16:49,” he said.
The Honolulu Marathon/HHSAA Cross Country State Championships will be held at CORP on Saturday morning.
On the first climb uphill, Cole, Smith and Mukkada were grouped in front. By the final mile, a normally close race between Cole and Smith was not meant to be.
“I knew that Ari would definitely stick with me for as long as he could,” Cole said. “So I made sure to kind of push the uphill, but the moment we finished uphill, everybody’s legs get tired, so I pushed it there, tried to separate as much as I could on the flats. I could kind of see (Smith’s) shadow behind me pull away. That’s when I knew it was working. I was feeling a lot of pain, but I assume he felt more pain.”
Normally, Cole waits until the last mile before pushing ahead.
“I did push on the downhill (in the last half-mile). My coach told me it was just myself. That’s when I knew I had it,” Cole said. “It felt good when I actually heard it.”
When the season started, Smith surprised the local field. The transfer from Indiana was the top local boys runner at the ‘Iolani Invitational, finishing ahead of all of last year’s top finishers at the state championships. Cole has since beaten Smith head-to-head in three meets.
At the Kamehameha Invitational, Cole placed first (16:32), followed by Smith (16:38), Mukkada (16:40), Navarro (16:46) and ‘Iolani’s core of Spencer Lyau (16:46), Keane Palmer (16:57), Ethan Chock (17:00) and Nicolas Moses (17:04).
Smith was first at the Mililani Invitational with a personal record of 16:31, but Kalani and ‘Iolani did not participate.
At the Michael Doran Invitational — held at CORP — Cole finished eight seconds ahead of Smith (16:57), followed by Benjamin Brown of Punahou (17:01), Micah Brighton of Seabury Hall (17:10), Navarro (17:21) and Mukkada (17:25).
Smith won the OIA Westerns, while Cole took the OIA Easterns, setting up another showdown on Saturday.
“I felt good. I wanted to hang on (Cole) the first mile, maybe make a move on the second, but I didn’t really feel the best. It didn’t really pan out how I wanted it to, but it was a good race,” Smith said. “We pulled each other through.”
Mililani scored 34 points, followed by Radford (75), Kalani (110), Campbell (119), Kalaheo (128), Moanalua (187), Pearl City (208), Roosevelt (221) and Leilehua (222).
This is the first time Mililani has won back-to-back titles since 1999-2000.
“I feel good. We had a lot of expectations this year because last year we did pretty well. Everybody’s older. It was good,” Mililani coach Nathan Aragaki said.
Meanwhile, Bitterman continued her sensational season by winning the OIA girls title with a time of 20:20.
“I knew if I was going to get too far behind, I would have to spend too much time and energy trying to catch up to the rest of the pack,” she said. “I knew people were going to start fast because it’s championships. I tried to go out there and not burn out too early.”
She was followed by Kalaheo senior Amelie Loomis (20:32), Moanalua sophomore Madeline Grant (20:47.53), Campbell sophomore Ashlyn Jacobsen (20:47.97), Kalaheo sophomore Eve Cody (20:51) and Kaiser junior Jocelyn Thomas (20:54).
“Zola (O’Donnell) just graduated last year and that’s a state champion runner,” Aragaki said. “You feel like you’re going to rebuild, but (Bitterman) came from the middle school. From Day 1, I could tell she was a good runner. She has a good attitude and she works hard. Her strength is she’s able to maintain the pace and not worry about catching other people, slowing down, speeding up. She gets into a rhythm and concentrates on that, and next thing you know, it’s kick time.”
Bitterman pulled away from the pack near the midway point.
“I felt good going up the hill. Every time I get to the top of a hill, I usually run out of breath, so I try to use the downhill as much as possible. That’s what my coaches have been teaching us,” Bitterman said. “I knew I needed to try to separate. I could hear my mom and my coaches saying that, as well.”
Bitterman placed second at the Kamehameha Invitational to Moanalua sophomore Madeline Grant, then won the Mililani Invitational, Michael Doran Invitational and the OIA Westerns. It was at the Michael Doran race where Bitterman edged Hanalani’s Saige Miller for first place. Miller won the ILH title last week.
Moanalua (68 points) edged Kalani (73) and Kalaheo (76). Campbell (93) placed fourth, followed by Kaiser (95), Waialua (135), Radford (160), Roosevelt (189), Kailua (250) and Farrington (263).
“I’m very surprised, but the girls worked hard, kept their heads up and they made it happen,” Moanalua coach David Matsumoto said. “It’s been ups and downs, but it’s a team concept and that’s what showed up today. They believe in themselves and they made it happen.
Moanalua was fifth last year at OIAs, he added.
“We do have a couple of new people that ran track last year,” Matsumoto said. “I feel great for the team.”
Mililani did not enter a team. There are four varsity runners, and the rest of the team, mostly first-year runners, compete at the JV level, Aragaki said.
Kaiser’s top runner, Kimberly McCoy, collapsed in the final half-mile of the race and was not able to finish. That was a key in the final team standings. The heartbreak is real; because she was unable to finish among the top 65 OIA runners, McCoy did not qualify for the state championships.
McCoy placed third at the Doran Invitational behind Bitterman and Miller. She also placed sixth at the Kamehameha Invitational and fourth at the OIA Easterns.
