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Runners grind it out at Baldwin Invite

Seabury Hall’s Layne Millen pulls away to win the girls cross country race Saturday at Baldwin High School. The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photos

WAILUKU — There were no clouds overhead as Seabury Hall’s Micah Brighton and Layne Millen braced the heat for another win in their respective boys and girls cross country races Saturday morning at Baldwin High School. 

As the Maui Interscholastic League season reaches its midway point, the teammates continue to maintain their spots atop the individual results. 

“It was good, it’s always nice to run at different courses and see, like, the different schools and see which teams do well at their home turf, and just running on different terrain to get ready for states,” Millen said after completing the 5-kilometer course in a time of 20 minutes, 42.8 seconds.

The junior ran strong from the get-go, but Kihei Charter sophomore Layla James remained steady just a few strides off. Millen created a slight gap around the 2-mile mark before bringing home the win. 

“She ran a good race and she was really helpful in pushing me the whole way,” Millen said of James, who placed second in 21:08.8. Baldwin’s Selena Castro was third in 21:54.8.

Seabury Hall’s Micah Brighton runs to a win in the boys cross country race.

“It was good, the sand was a bit of a struggle, but other than that, it was pretty good,” James said after crossing the finish line. “I feel like I improved a lot from last year and it just feels good getting out there and running races with Layne, so it’s cool, I like it.” 

The training has “definitely gotten a lot harder” since last year, she added, which has really boosted the Tiger Sharks’ boys and girls cross country program. 

“It’s really nice because my coach is such a good coach and they’ll all train and help us, and all the girls are all so nice to me and we all work together and train,” James said. “It just feels like I’m on a real team.”

Still, the Kihei Charter girls, who tallied 49 points on Saturday, will have to chase down Maui High, which won the meet with a solid 40 points. Baldwin finished a close third with 51 points. 

“I’m really proud of them because they’re really young and some of them inexperienced, so every week to keep winning races or just to be competitive is a win in that aspect because they’ve been working so hard in practice and learning how to run cross country pretty quickly,” Maui High head coach Jared Welch said. “We still have some injuries we’re dealing with and challenges, you know, it’s a long season and there’s some other teams that are close, like Kihei Charter and Baldwin, so we have to keep doing our best all the way to the end.”

Girls runners break from the starting line.

In the boys race — which included a full scoring team from Lanai and a few runners from Molokai — Brighton quickly found his way to the front of the pack and kept a big lead throughout the course that wrapped around the Bears’ campus.

“I was able to win, which is good, but my time was a lot slower today,” Brighton said after winning in 17:41.5. “I did what I normally do — I stretched, tried getting out fast, tried running strong — I just started dying in the middle of the race.” 

Maui High’s Galen Okamoto finished second with a time of 17:53.1 while Seabury’s Kayden Volner was third in 18:33.8.

Brighton and the Spartans won the team title with 44 points, beating out the Sabers (56 points) and Tiger Sharks (97).

Always looking to improve, Brighton said he’s just going to continue “training hard and continuing to help my team a bit so they can come along to states with me.” The Honolulu Marathon State Championships are set for Oct. 29 on Kauai. 

Boys cross country competitors break from the starting line Saturday at Baldwin High School

To prepare for championship season, runners from Maui High and Seabury competed against high-level competition from around the state and the Mainland at the Iolani Invitational a couple weeks ago. Brighton finished 27th in the boys varsity race, but the performance ranks him fifth in the state midway through the season. 

“I was able to see how much faster the Mainland teams are, which was pretty crazy, and also the fact that the person who was in first in that race was a 15-year-old, so I have a lot to work on to get up there,” the sophomore said. 

In the races held at Kualoa Ranch on Oahu, Maui High senior Okamoto was the top finisher from Hawaii in the boys open race, ninth overall.

“It was good because a lot of them haven’t ran in races that big with runners that are more on their level, so just having the experience, that’s why we go, is to be able to prepare for the state meet and it’s so different from what we run in here,” Welch said. 

In the girls varsity race, Millen finished 11th overall and third among Hawaii runners. The day “was surreal,” she said.

“I can’t even put it into words how that was. The energy there was so different than what we have in the MIL and it’s really nice to go off island and see what’s there and having Mainland teams push us,” Millen said. “You just won’t get that anywhere else. And, running in such a beautiful place was such an incredible experience.” 

MIL meet No. 4 is scheduled for this Saturday at King Kekaulike.

* Dakota Grossman is at dgrossman@mauinews.com.

*****

Baldwin Invitational

Saturday’s Results • At Baldwin

Girls

Team–1. Maui High 40, 2. Kihei Charter 49, 3. Baldwin 51, 4. Kamehameha Maui 100, 5. King Kekaulike 102.

Individual–1. Layne Millen, Seabury Hall, 20:42.8; 2. Layla James, Kihei Charter, 21:08.8; 3. Selena Castro, Baldwin, 21:54.8; 4. Ashley Tarasenko, Maui High, 22:01.8; 5. Priana Dugied, Seabury Hall, 22:11.4; 6. Tanya Kari, Kihei Charter, 22:49.5; 7. Lindsey Kong, Maui High, 23:07.3; 8. Kalia Kaneta, Maui High, 23:32.3; 9. Kadence Merritt, Kamehameha Maui, 23:41.1; 10. Kailani Bicoy, Molokai, 23:59.5; 11. Tamilyn Ebisu, Baldwin, 24:04.9; 12. Sophia Kato, Maui High, 24:05.3; 13. Paige Asato, Baldwin, 24:10.8; 14. Daisy Queirolo, Kihei Charter, 24:20.1; 15. Kaia Yamashita, Molokai, 24:38.8; 16. Elise Hollingsworth, Lahainaluna, 24:39.7; 17. Grace James, Kihei Charter, 25:05.3; 18. Lily Barrett, King Kekaulike, 25:13.3; 19. Queences Manuel, Lanai, 25:18.7; 20. Kiana Quinabo, King Kekaulike, 25:24.4; 21. Realani Sabado, Baldwin, 25:28.1; 22. Jadyn Corniel, Baldwin, 26:04.8; 23. Jaisa Robello, Maui High, 26:14.7; 24. Amane Fukada, Maui High, 26:21.3; 25. Kailani Pascua, Kamehameha Maui, 26:22.4; 26. Isabel Andaluz, Maui High, 26:30.1; 27. Bailee Hughes, Haleakala Waldorf, 26:31.2; 28. Haley Mahoe, Lahainaluna, 26:35.8; 29. Kylie Beam, Maui Prep, 26:54.8; 30. Allison Armstrong, Kihei Charter, 26:59.9; 31. Madeline Groh, King Kekaulike, 27:08.2; 32. Makena Crownover, Kamehameha Maui, 27:11.8; 33. Emily Sloper, Kamehameha Maui, 27:17.3; 34. Alana Manuel, Lanai, 27:21.9; 35. Giullia Porter, King Kekaulike, 27:28.5; 36. Zoee Toda, Baldwin, 27:48.8; 37. Nawe’a Cook, Kamehameha Maui, 27:56.7; 38. Nicole Riemenschneider, King Kekaulike, 28:01.0; 39. Shelby Kubo, Baldwin, 28:30.9; 40. Emi Wunder, Kamehameha Maui, 29:15.5; 41. Katelyn Olboc, Kihei Charter, 30:07.8; 42. Chanel Higa, Baldwin, 30:23.2; 43. Rhianna Vega, Maui High, 30:58.4; 44. Teija Wada, Kamehameha Maui, 31:07.0; 45. Elena Riel, Lanai, 32:00.5; 46. Heamoni Mataele, Maui High, 32:14.0; 47. Hailey Chang, Maui Prep, 32:52.8; 48. Maika Kuwahara, Baldwin, 33:35.9; 49. Caroline Sloper, Kamehameha Maui, 36:17.8; 50. Alyssa Arango, Maui Prep, 37:58.7; 51. Kyani Bateman, Kamehameha Maui, 37:59.1.

Boys

Team–1. Seabury Hall 44, 2. Maui High 56, 3. Kihei Charter 97, 4. Baldwin 129, 5. Kamehameha Maui 131, 6. Maui Prep 172, 7. Lanai 197, 8. Lahainaluna 213, 9. King Kekaulike 228.

Individual–1. Micah Brighton, Seabury Hall, 17:41.5; 2. Galen Okamoto, Maui High, 17:53.1; 3. Kayden Volner, Seabury Hall, 18:33.8; 4. Pierce Armstrong, Maui Prep, 19:01.6; 5. Byron Ellis, Kihei Charter, 19:15.8; 6. Aidan Javier, Kihei Charter, 19:17.3; 7. Max Anklam, Maui High, 19:17.7; 8. Mason Anklam, Maui High, 19:31.5; 9. Felix Daniel Velasquez, Kihei Charter, 19:40.2; 10. Bryson Cagasan, Kamehameha Maui, 19:45.7; 11. Martin Parraguez, Seabury Hall, 19:48.5; 12. Jericho Adolpho, Molokai, 19:48.7; 13. Jake Hackett, King Kekaulike, 19:49.0; 14. Maddox DelleFave, Kihei Charter, 19:49.3; 15. Charlie Baldwin, Haleakala Waldorf, 19:52.6; 16. Sage Ryden, Seabury Hall, 19:55.8; 17. Austin Schlather, Seabury Hall, 19:57.0; 18. Jacob Romero, Seabury Hall, 19:59.9; 19. Finn Hensley, Seabury Hall, 20:02.8; 20. Gaige Okamoto, Maui High, 20:03.3; 21. Kakahi Kapuaala, Kamehameha Maui, 20:15.6; 22. Travis Delos Santos, Baldwin, 20:21.1; 23. Braeden Asuncion, Maui High, 20:33.2; 24. Jaleil Tarik, Baldwin, 20:34.7; 25. Dashiel Philbrook, Baldwin, 20:55.8; 26. Blake Abernathy, Kamehameha Maui, 20:59.8; 27. Jaycen Fernandez, Maui High, 21:02.5; 28. Jason Esquivel-Rodriguez, Maui High, 21:09.7; 29. Noah Kalehuawehe, Kamehameha Maui, 21:10.9; 31. Kadin Finlayson, Seabury Hall, 21:18.8; 30. Jacob Janikowski, Lanai, 21:19.2; 32. Jack Prestage, Lahainaluna, 21:21.7; 33. Hasim Tarik, Baldwin, 21:31.9; 34. Dylan Sagon, Lahainaluna, 21:44.7; 35. Keola Eldredge, Baldwin, 21:52.0; 36. Niko Banto, Maui Prep, 22:09.3; 37. Nathaniel Amby, Lanai, 22:10.8; 38. Christian Oliva, Lanai, 22:12.7; 39. TJ Heheman, Maui Prep, 22:20.4; 40. Loea Hue-Sing, Maui High, 22:43.8; 41. Tatum Dugan Wood, Baldwin, 22:55.3; 42. Ethan Baysa, King Kekaulike, 22:55.9; 43. Duke Stanton, Baldwin, 22:58.2; 44. Ezekiel Dela Cruz, Baldwin, 23:04.7; 45. Hunter Etrata, Lanai, 23:23.3; 46. Noah Mickelson, Maui High, 23:24.9; 47. Maundrey Cendana, Baldwin, 23:32.1; 48. Camden Fugate, Lahainaluna, 23:38.7; 49. Jack Leone, Maui Prep, 23:43.8; 50. Joa Navarro, Lahainaluna, 23:54.2; 51. Aristotle Oamil, Molokai, 23:55.3; 52. Kailer Garcia, Baldwin, 23:59.1; 53. Andrew Webber, Maui Prep, 24:21.6; 54. Kaleikaumaka Roback, Kamehameha Maui, 25:39.6; 55. Isaiah Coppa, Baldwin, 25:41.7; 56. Gabriel Jeffers, Haleakala Waldorf, 25:42.4; 57. Calvin Araki, King Kekaulike, 26:03.0; 58. Noah Richard, Maui Prep, 26:03.9; 59. Rheyno Jiro Quindiagan, Lanai, 26:09.6; 60. Kenyon Davis, Baldwin, 26:23.1; 61. Cameron Jones, Lahainaluna, 26:44.8; 62. Zolten Paulsen, Maui Prep, 26:55.1; 63. Isaiah Acia, Haleakala Waldorf, 27:33.6; 64. Kahuluii Pali-Pahupu, Molokai, 27:44.2; 65. Herbert Higa, Baldwin, 28:13.5; 66. Spencer Chew, Lanai, 28:47.6; 67. Ryker Lorico-Minchin, King Kekaulike, 28:55.5; 68. Beck Riemenschneider, King Kekaulike, 28:57.2; 69. Lukas Vitenas, Maui Prep, 28:58.4; 70. Micaiah Mercado, Kihei Charter, 29:13.0; 71. Cash Atacador, Lanai, 29:14.5.

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