LIHUE — It was the high-energy environment of the Honolulu Marathon/HHSAA Cross Country State Championships that boosted a pair of Seabury Hall runners to strong performances on Saturday.

As hundreds of the state’s top runners gathered at Island School on Kauai, the Spartans’ Micah Brighton and Prianna Dugied were the top male and female Maui Interscholastic League finishers at fourth and 20th place, respectively.

The young Spartan boys also went home with a Division II runner-up team trophy with 45 points, just four points off champion Hawaii Baptist (41).

Brighton, the MIL boys individual champion, ran a time of 16 minutes, 49.35 seconds on the 5-kilometer course Saturday, finishing behind only champion Keane Palmer from Iolani (16:29.09), Kalani’s Yuta Cole (16:30.06) and Kealakehe’s Levi Childers (16:46.12).

“It went pretty good, honestly,” the sophomore said. “I was going to try and stay as close as I could to Keane during the race, but the last lap I kind of ended up dying, but I still just tried to stay ahead of as many people as possible.”

This is a huge improvement from last season for Brighton, who finished 34th in sloppy conditions on Hawaii island in 2021.

“I like it, it was a lot like last year’s — there were a lot of people and everything, but the conditions were a lot better,” Brighton said. “It was good and I did better than last year.”

Maui High senior Galen Okamoto, the MIL runner-up, finished 19th — the top 20 runners received medals.

In addition to Lihue’s picturesque views, hundreds of spectators lined the course, which made for an adrenaline-filled race.

As nearly 200 boys stampeded through the fast and smooth terrain, Brighton stayed up with the front-runners for the majority of the race.

Though he fell off the pack in the final half-mile, he was happy with his final placement.

“It was a really good season,” he said. “It was awesome having this team and I felt like everyone did good today.”

In addition to Brighton, Seabury’s other scoring runners were Kayden Volner (24th overall, 17:37.47), Sage Ryden (34th, 17:53.99), Martin Parraguez (52nd, 18:16.68) and Finn Hensley (75th, 18:37.85).

All members of the Spartans’ boys state squad — including No. 6 runner Jacob Romero — are sophomores and freshmen.

“I thought our team ran really, really hard and just did a great job for how young of a team they are,” head coach Bobby Grossman said. “As a state race, it was very aggressive. There was a lot of pushing and shoving, and all the runners were really trying hard. It was a fast race and super competitive.”

Grossman said coming in second was “great, but a little bittersweet.”

“We had an expectation of trying to win states as the underdog,” he said. “I think this will make the team hungrier for the future.”

In the girls race, Mililani’s Zola O’Donnell gutted out the final 200 meters to emerge from the crowd with a time of 19:07.02. Punahou’s Isabella Ford — the 2021 state champion — was second in 19:21.02, and Hilo’s Kekaihulali Halpern was third in 19:29.29.

Seabury senior Dugied snagged the last spot for a medal — the highest MIL girl placement — and said that the competitive environment as well as the loud cheers pulled her along to a time of 20:36.07.

Baldwin senior Selena Castro, the MIL girls champion, finished a few places back in 23rd with a time of 20:50.88, and Maui High’s Ashley Tarasenko was a few strides behind in 20:54.65.

“I feel good, I feel like there was really good energy today,” Dugied said. “I think everyone was excited and I had really good teammates and good support.”

Last week at the MIL championships at Kahului Community Center, Dugied placed fourth. On Saturday, she just “locked in and went for it” since it was her last cross country meet in high school.

“It’s been the most amazing experience ever, I mean, getting to train with amazing athletes who are doing such great things now has been an incredible experience,” she said. “The team now, we’ve got great boy runners and amazing girl runners. Definitely wouldn’t be able to do this if I didn’t have such a great team and such great coaches.”

MIL girls team champion Kihei Charter finished fourth in the Division II bracket with 78 points. Hawaii Baptist won with 29 points.

In Division I, Iolani won the boys title while Punahou took the girls crown. The Maui High boys placed 11th while the Sabers girls took seventh.

* Dakota Grossman is at dgrossman@mauinews.com.

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Honolulu Marathon / hHSAA Cross Country Championships

Saturday’s Results • At Island School

Boys

Team

Division I–1. Iolani 57, 2. Punahou 77, 3. Kealakehe 115, 4. Mililani 133, 5. Radford 160, 6. Kamehameha Kapalama 165, 7. Kalani 168, 8. Waiakea 200, 9. Kalaheo 226, 10. Kaiser 259, 11. Maui High 267, 12. Moanalua 293, 13. Hilo 307, 14. Baldwin 406

Division II–1. Hawaii Baptist 41, 2. Seabury Hall 45, 3. Hanalani 91, 4. Kauai 104, 5. Hawaii Prep 120, 6. Kihei Charter 126, 7. Makua Lani 161

MIL individual results

4. Micah Brighton, Seabury Hall, 16:49.35; 19. Galen Okamoto, Maui High, 17:25.07; 24. Kayden Volner, Seabury Hall, 17:37.47; 34. Sage Ryden, Seabury Hall, 17:53.99; 44. Pierce Armstrong, Maui Prep, 18:06.51; 49. Matheus Chauvin, King Kekaulike, 18:13.66; 52. Martin Parraguez, Seabury Hall, 18:16.68; 64. Charlie Baldwin, Haleakala Waldorf, 18:28.71; 75. Finn Hensley, Seabury Hall, 18:37.85; 77. Aidan Javier, Kihei Charter, 18:39.18; 80. Jake Hackett, King Kekaulike, 18:43.26; 83. Mason Anklam, Maui High, 18:44.03; 86. Jacob Romero, Seabury Hall, 18:48.16; 89. Daniel Velasquez, Kihei Charter, 18:51.09; 103. Jacob Hinfey, Maui High, 18:58.42; 107. Jericho Adolpho, Molokai, 19:02.83; 110. Maddox Dellefave, Kihei Charter, 19:04.59; 127. Byron Ellis, Kihei Charter, 19:19.21; 130. Bryson Cagasan, Kamehameha Maui, 19:24.70; 137. Jaleil Tarik, Baldwin, 19:33.49; 140. Braeden Asuncion, Maui High, 19:34.03; 144. Jack Prestage, Lahainaluna, 19:35.48; 150. Max Anklam, Maui High, 19:42.02; 152. Dashiel Philbrook Baldwin, 19:44.13; 158. Enzo Queirolo, Kihei Charter, 19:51.25; 160. Travis Delos Santo, Baldwin, 19:54.25; 168. Ckristian Oliva, Lanai, 20:06.00; 192. Hasim Tarik, Baldwin, 21:16.03; 195. Keola Eldredge, Baldwin, 21:58.73; 196. Timothy TJ Heheman, Maui Prep, 22:00.39; 197. Noah Mickelson, Maui High, 22:30.98; 198. Arjei Paet, Baldwin, 22:34.31; 199. Jacob Janikowski, Lanai, 22:35.64

Girls

Team

Division I–1. Punahou 38, 2. Iolani 78, 3. Kalaheo 118, 4. Mililani 157, 5. Kalani 168, 6. Kamehameha Kapalama 172, 7. Maui High 207, 8. Hilo 236, 9. Radford 245, 10. Kealakehe 245, 11. Waiakea 247, 12. Kaiser 257, 13. Baldwin 297, 14. Moanalua 299, 15. Roosevelt 403.

Division II–1. Hawaii Baptist 29, 2. Hawaii Prep 68, 3. Kauai 71, 4. Kihei Charter 78, 5. Kamehameha Hawaii 114.

MIL individual results

20. Prianna Dugied, Seabury Hall, 20:36.07; 23. Selena Castro, Baldwin, 20:50.88; 24. Ashley Tarasenko, Maui High, 20:54.65; 26. Layla James, Kihei Charter, 20:59.17; 33. Tanya Kari, Kihei Charter, 21:13.59; 42. Lindsey Kong, Maui High, 21:38.05; 57. Kalia Kaneta, Maui High, 22:07.33; 87. Kadence Merritt, Kamehameha Maui, 22:58.87; 88. Kailani Bicoy, Molokai, 23:00.27; 90. Tamilyn Ebisu, Baldwin, 23:06.98; 92. Paige Asato, Baldwin, 23:12.41; 97. Kaia Yamashita, Molokai, 23:24.34; 98. Daisy Queirolo, Kihei Charter, 23:27.46; 109. Allison Armstrong Kihei Charter, 23:44.05; 112. Kayla Bush, Seabury Hall, 23:48.72; 119. Gianna Pogni, Lahainaluna, 23:59.62; 120. Grace James, Kihei Charter, 24:03.53; 122. Sophia Kato, Maui High, 24:06.70; 125. Kyla Mira, Maui High, 24:07.94; 130. Queences Manuel, Lanai, 24:14.94; 131. Nawe’a Cook, Kamehameha Maui, 24:17.57; 143. Kiana Quinabo, King Kekaulike, 24:30.95; 146. Nicole Riemenschneider, King Kekaulike, 24:38.33; 151. Realani Sabado, Baldwin, 24:50.97; 152. Isabel Andaluz, Maui High, 24:53.10; 155. Amane Fukada, Maui High, 24:56.90; 157. Norah Brown, King Kekaulike, 24:57.95; 163. Lily Barrett, King Kekaulike, 25:07.58; 168. Haley Mahoe, Lahainaluna, 25:16.00; 175. Bailee Hughes, Haleakala Waldorf, 25:45.41; 182. Shelby Kubo, Baldwin, 26:10.93; 189. Jadyn Corniel, Baldwin, 26:58.19; 192. Kyli Beam, Maui Prep, 27:14.61.