Six meet records fall in Blue and Gold finals

By MARY BETH BISHOP Staff Writer
WAILUKU — Kalei Kamahele had been looking forward to facing some of his toughest competition in the finals of the Blue and Gold Invitational at Yamamoto Track & Field Facility on Saturday.

When the opportunity arrived, the Baldwin High School sprinter set a meet record and defeated Mililani’s Kawika Ornellas in the boys 100 meters with a time of 10.94 seconds. Ornellas posted a 10.97.

Kamahele also took first in the 200 dash with a meet-record time of 22.12, was part of the Bears’ record-setting 1,600 relay team (3:27.82) and anchored the first-place 400 relay squad.

‘‘The boy from Mililani gave me some good competition,’’ said Kamahele, who was named the boys top track athlete of the meet. ‘‘I’ve been looking forward to it all this year and it was just another steppingstone to preparing myself for states.’’

The Trojans made the trip to check out their Maui competition before the Punahou Relays, said Mililani’s Cameron Daugherty, who finished first in the pole vault and long jump.

‘‘I, personally, am not going to be here for the Punahou Relays, so I wanted to face (St. Anthony’s) Billy Pacheco, since he’s the number-one ranked, so that’s why I came over,’’ said Daugherty, who vaulted 14 feet, 6 inches to Pacheco’s 13-6. ‘‘He looks really good and there are some really good guys back on Oahu, so I’m just going to have to step it up a little bit more and hopefully break some records this year.’’

Daugherty’s triple jump of 20-8 was enough to finish ahead of Lahainaluna’s Bryson Williams (20-4 1/2).

Baldwin’s Joey Amescua set a meet record in the 800 (1:59.24), and was also on the record-setting 1,600 relay team, along with Vance Rosete and Tommy Barber. The Bears’ Sean Tesoro broke the meet mark in the discus with a throw of 161-3.

Tesoro also took first in the shot put with a distance of

49-11 and was named the top boys field athlete for the meet.

Kailia Tracy-Visintainer of Seabury Hall won the girls 200 in a meet-record time of 24.85, and finished first in the 100 (12.52), earning her the girls track athlete of the meet award.

Lahainaluna’s Jordyn Kilgore won the triple jump (34-0), long jump (17-0), long jump (4-10) and 100 hurdles (17.41) and received the girls field athlete award.

The Lunas’ Matthew Lawless edged King Kekaulike’s Jesse Henderson in the boys 400 with a time of 51.85. Henderson posted a 52.83.

‘‘Well, going into the race I was nervous and stuff, but just running with Jesse, he always pushes me, we push each other, and when I go out there, I just want to give it my all, leave it on the track,’’ said Lawless, who qualified for the state meet in addition to finishing ahead of Henderson for the first time this season.

‘‘This was my night. I was like, ‘I’ve got to make it this week, I’ve only got one more chance after this.’ ’’

King Kekaulike’s Bailey Massenburg took first in three events — the girls 800, 1500 and 3,000 — after competing for Na Alii in a tennis match earlier today.

‘‘Our (tennis) team just won MILs, so I’m really excited, so my goal for the today was just to relax and just do well in all my events but not push it too hard,’’ said Massenburg, who ran a 5:05.85 in the 1,500 to finish nearly six seconds faster than Kamehameha Maui’s Kaahumanu Rozet. ‘‘I’m just really working hard on training like I should be.’’

Also taking place on Saturday was the Runner’s Paradise 100-Meter Challenge, featuring sprinters Andrew Ammons, Ricardo Williams, Jr., Garry Jones, Carlos Moore, Jeff Laynes and Andrew Reyes, all with personal bests in the low 10-second range.

Williams edged Laynes finished neck-and-neck with Williams named the winner with a time of 10.351 to Laynes’ 10.358.

Moore was third in 10.42, Ammons fourth in 10.59 and Reyes fifth in 11.24.