KAPALUA - By his own account, Maui High School's Cody McCorriston has been fighting for second place in Maui Interscholastic League cross country meets this year.
For the first three events, Baldwin's James Pearson took the titles with McCorriston close behind.
Last week, when Pearson took the prep weekend off to run in the Front Street Mile and Maui Half Marathon, Lahainaluna's Corban Kaikkonen won the MIL race on McCorriston's home course in Kahului.
Article Photos
Dakota Grossman of Seabury Hall runs through a turn on the way to winning Saturday’s Westside Invitational girls title at Kapalua.
The Maui News / ROBERT COLLIAS photo
Saturday morning, however, on his 17th birthday, McCorriston outlasted Kaikkonen down the stretch to win the Westside Invitational. Pearson skipped the meet with an illness.
"Last night I had a hard time sleeping, but I woke up this morning feeling pretty good," McCorriston said after covering three miles in 17 minutes, 17 seconds, four seconds in front of Kaikkonen. "I didn't know James wasn't running. I was pretty much just pushing for that second (place), but then when I saw he wasn't running, I saw an opportunity and I knew I had to beat Corban."
Dakota Grossman, Seabury Hall's two-time state champion, returned to MIL competition with a win in 20:21. She finished third in the Iolani Invitational last week, behind a pair of California runners.
Fact Box
WESTSIDE INVITATIONAL
Saturday's Results
At Kapalua
Girls-1. Dakota Grossman, Seabury Hall, 20:21, 2. Nikki Musto, King Kekaulike, 21:46, 3. Jenna Loesberg, Seabury Hall, 22:21, 4. Ally Smith, Seabury Hall, 22:24, 5. Erin Murashige, Baldwin, 22:33, 6. Tiera Arakawa, King Kekaulike, 22:39, 7. Alicia Morris Schmidthans, Baldwin, 22:40, 8. Christy Fell, Seabury Hall, 22:47, 9. Lia Matsunaga, Seabury Hall, 22:50, 10. Ellissa Bio, Baldwin, 22:57, 11. Kailey Sager, Lahainaluna, 23:42, 12. Annette Kinchiro, Baldwin, 23:48, 13. Catherine Quino, Maui High, 23:49, 14. Sage Saito, Baldwin, 23:55, 15. Rayce Tamanaha, Baldwin, 24:10, 16. Michelle Gima, Maui High, 24:16, 17. Natalie Rothman, Seabury Hall, 24:22, 18. Makena Robinson, King Kekaulike, 24:23, 19. Kerry Donohue, Baldwin, 24:25, 20. Rebekah Hallesten, St. Anthony, 24:31, 21. Tiare Matsuura, King Kekaulike, 24:33, 22. Maika Hanta, Maui High, 24:39, 23. Tiffany Keau, Maui High, 24:44, 24. Genica Aban, Maui High, 24:57, 25. Rachel Smith, Kamehameha Maui, 24:59, 26. Tatiana Figueres, Lanai, 25:18, 27. Stephanie Lawless, Lahainaluna, 25:21, 28. Shantel Longboy, Maui High, 25:21, 29. Jacy Sera, Maui High, 25:27, 30. Danielle Jefferies, Maui Prep, 25:30, 31. Keisha Mateo, Baldwin, 25:38, 32. Tanitia Imonti, King Kekaulike, 25:50, 33. Briana Berdel, Maui High, 25:50, 34. Olivia Pagel, Seabury Hall, 26:05, 35. Kiana Tom, Baldwin, 26:31, 36. Victoria Alakai, Kamehameha Maui, 26:45, 37. Zoe Eto, Baldwin, 27:00, 38. Kami Kutsunai, Baldwin, 27:17, 39. Kirsten Paulson, Seabury Hall, 27:32, 40. Leimana Hassett, Kamehameha Maui, 27:42, 41. Tiana Camarilo, Seabury Hall, 27:49, 42. Lynsey Jio, Baldwin, 27:54, 43. Keely Lindsey, Kamehameha Maui, 28:14, 44. Miki Matsuoka, Baldwin, 28:15, 45. Kobashigawa Kristi, Baldwin, 28:25, 46. Advincula Jamie, Maui Prep, 28:29, 48. Tiana Bala, Lanai, 28:58, 49. Tracy Ige, Lanai, 28:58, 50. Kara Oshiro, Maui High, 29:21, 51. Kayla Hackett, King Kekaulike, 29:24, 52. Genisis Gil, King Kekaulike, 29:25, 53. Janessa Miguel, Baldwin, 29:27, 54. Shanelle Macaraeg, Baldwin, 29:28, 55. Sammi Shoemaker, Maui Prep, 29:33, 56. May Samari, Maui Prep, 29:33, 57. Haleigh Berko, Lahainaluna, 29:37, 58. Jessica Mendiola, Kamehameha Maui, 29:39, 59. Diana Naihe, Hana, 29:39, 60. Eryn Pendergast, Lahainaluna, 30:01, 61. Maelisa Calilao, Maui High, 30:22, 62. Nicole Davis, Baldwin, 30:22, 63. Mckenna Chaney, Kamehameha Maui, 30:51, 64. Jennie Giron, Baldwin, 30:53, 65. Julianna Hedge, Baldwin, 30:54, 66. Mikela Cabagua, Lahainaluna, 35:48, 67. Lilia Lorenzo, Kamehameha Maui, 35:50, 68. Anela Fernandez, Lanai, 35:58, 69. Kaili Mossman, Kamehameha Maui, 36:04.
Boys-1. Cody McCorriston, Maui High, 17:17, 2. Corban Kaikkonen, Lahainaluna, 17:21, 3. Nicolas Colon, Seabury Hall, 18:23, 4. Akona Adolpho, Molokai, 18:31, 5. Miles Malott, Seabury Hall, 18:33, 6. Elias Grond, Maui High, 18:37, 7. Xavier Damo, Maui Prep, 18:38, 8. Joseph Griffith IV, Maui High, 18:40, 9. Jarrett Jackson, Maui High, 18:50, 10. Reggie Lo, Baldwin, 19:18, 11. Tyler Kiyota, Seabury Hall, 19:22, 12. Alden Simmer, Seabury Hall, 19:23, 13. Daniel Quenga, Kamehameha Maui, 19:24, 14. Wyatt Chism, Lahainaluna, 19:24, 15. Jeremy Sanchez, Maui High, 19:26, 16. Avinash Singh, Kamehameha Maui, 19:34, 17. Tayler Fourie, Seabury Hall, 19:38, 18. Jasper Quiocho, Maui High, 19:40, 19. Matthew Foronda, Baldwin, 19:44, 20. Maeda Gerry, St. Anthony, 19:45, 21. Caleb Bermudez, Maui Prep, 19:46, 22. Greyson Aldridge, Molokai, 19:46, 23. Quinn Jones, Seabury Hall, 19:51, 24. Aundre Paet, Baldwin, 19:57, 25. Kiernan Mateo, Baldwin, 20:00, 26. Alek Paet, Baldwin, 20:12, 27. Jay-Will Taroma, Maui High, 20:17, 28. Paxton Malek, Seabury Hall, 20:22, 29. Kai Linuma-Nakaaki, Seabury Hall, 20:27, 30. Garrett Haia, Baldwin, 20:27, 31. Jordan Piano, Baldwin, 20:34, 32. Ikaika Renaoud, Kamehameha Maui, 20:40, 33. Sam Sutton, Maui High, 20:41, 34. Santana Huck, Maui Prep, 20:43, 35. Keaoalono Ross, Molokai, 20:43, 36. Ian Almeida, King Kekaulike, 20:44, 37. Dallas Delrosaio, Lanai, 21:06, 38. Micah Allen Dela Cruz, Baldwin, 21:09, 39. Tanner Mosher, Molokai, 21:16, 40. Matthew Mangay-Ayam, Maui High, 21:21, 41. Daniel Olaso, Baldwin, 21:23, 42. Richard Sargent, Maui Prep, 21:25, 43. Sonny Balbas, Molokai, 21:32, 44. Brad Nakagawa, Baldwin, 21:34, 45. Chance Jacintho, Baldwin, 21:38, 46. Kainalu Ehman, Seabury Hall, 21:51, 47. Samuel Whyner, St. Anthony, 22:00, 48. Jesse Amaral, Kamehameha Maui, 22:01, 49. McHale Bermanis, Maui High, 22:02, 50. Brennen Sprenger, Lahainaluna, 22:12, 51. Taylor Fernandez, Baldwin, 22:14, 52. Dean Omura, Lahainaluna, 22:15, 53. Joshua Ancheta, Maui Prep, 22:19, 54. Marc Pader, Lanai, 22:21, 55. JoJo Chism, Lahainaluna, 22:26, 56. Zeb Mehring, Seabury Hall, 22:27, 58. Jacob Higa, Seabury Hall, 22:30, 59. Corin Nishimoto, Seabury Hall, 22:30, 60. Elenar Rasos, Maui High, 22:33, 61. Cody Yamamoto, Baldwin, 22:36, 62. Joel Quiocho, Maui High, 22:38, 63. Daniel Pietsch, Seabury Hall, 22:41, 64. Ezekiel Bolo, Lanai, 22:42, 65. Gunnar Turnbull, Baldwin, 23:05, 66. Derek Bal, Kamehameha Maui, 23:11, 67. Sean Fukuhara, Baldwin, 23:13, 68. Parker Robb, Maui Prep, 23:14, 69. Kekoa Escobar, Molokai, 23:19, 70. Nykolas Brunner, Maui High, 23:25, 71. Emmanual Tabbay, Maui High, 23:26, 72. Malcom Barsatan, Lanai, 23:28, 73. DaveScott Ramos, Baldwin, 23:28, 74. Robert deBrum, Molokai, 23:29, 75. Gabe Sisneros, Maui High, 23:33, 76. Landon Eisen, Baldwin, 23:35, 77. Kia'ku Nae'ole, Kamehameha Maui, 23:42, 78. Michael Means, Baldwin, 23:42, 79. Dustin Tacdol, Kamehameha Maui, 23:49, 80. Freddie Agcaoili Jr., Maui High, 24:05, 81. Ryan James, Seabury Hall, 24:09, 82. Michael Kikukawa, Molokai, 24:12, 83. Reggie Pascua, Maui High, 24:15, 84. Nicholas Niimi, Molokai, 24:18, 85. Harrison Ganir, Lanai, 24:22, 86. Kieran Clark, Maui Prep, 24:37, 87. Russell Nagamine, Kamehameha Maui, 24:41, 88. Ethan Frank, Maui Prep, 24:44, 89. Micheal Chasen, Kamehameha Maui, 24:49, 90. Bowerichard Ebding, Lanai, 25:34, 91. Francis Ebding, Lanai, 24:34, 92. Joe Yamamoto, Molokai, 25:37, 93. Alex Muto, Maui Prep, 25:57, 94. Milo Turner, Seabury Hall, 26:01, 95. Dawud Moragne, Seabury Hall, 26:18, 96. Justin Medieros, Seabury Hall, 27:27, 97. Nick Head, Maui Prep, 27:28, 98. Shawn Takahashi, Lahainaluna, 28:01, 99. Vaughn Dumalanta, Baldwin, 28:24, 100. Sean Endo, Baldwin, 28:37, 101. Deshawan Carillo, Kamehameha Maui, 28:47, 102. Alexander Harrington, Baldwin, 29:06, 103. Evan Fredricksen, Maui Prep, 29:08, 104. Corey Hosaka, Baldwin, 29:08.
Grossman won the state title on a slightly different course last October at Kapalua.
"I think it's a lot harder," Grossman said. "They start with that super long hill, but I just did my best and I was trying to work on hills today, so I think it went pretty well."
King Kekaulike's Nikki Musto was second in 21:46, but the six-time defending MIL champion Spartans placed Jenna Loesberg third, Ally Smith fourth, Christy Fell eighth and Lia Matsunaga ninth to easily win the team title.
McCorriston's first prep win led the Sabers - four-time defending MIL champions and last year's state runners-up - to the boys team title.
"It felt great, but it is not that much of a win without James," McCorriston said. "He's a good competitor, he's a tough one to beat. Me and Corban are usually battling for second. We were close the whole way, it was whoever could hit that last hill first was going to win. Our coach (Jared Welch) has been training us for hills, so I felt pretty good."
The Sabers' top three runners from last year have graduated - McCorriston was No. 4 last season in his first year of the sport. He knows the Sabers will face a stiff challenge from Seabury Hall to win a fifth straight MIL team title.
"Right now, it is not for me to say, it is sort of up in the blue," McCorriston said. "We know they are working really hard, too, but I think we have got a good shot at it. (Welch) told me from last year that I am going to have to take charge. It's time to step up and carry on the tradition of Maui High's cross country team."
Kaikkonen tipped his hat to McCorriston.
"As you could see we're going, like, back and forth up the hill, and then after that, like, it was whoever could sprint the fastest and apparently today he could," Kaikkonen said.
Welch said that winning team titles in the regular season will give his young group confidence for the MIL championships next month.
"I think it is going to be close with Seabury Hall all year," Welch said. "It has been close between us since the second or third week when we finally started getting all of our guys out. Cody really gutted it out today and I'm really proud and happy for him. Aside from the fact that it is his birthday, that first win is really special."
* Robert Collias is at rcollias@mauinews.com
