Royals Open XC Season at Mid-Pacific Institute

The start of the 2018 Cross-Country season is underway. Runners in Varsity, Junior Varsity, and Intermediate kicked off their respective seasons this past Saturday at Mid-Pacific Institute.

“The first race is always tough to predict. You have a mix of nervousness, excitement, joy, and fear. You won’t really know what happens until the gun goes off”, said Jeremy Honold, Head Coach. “Maybe not the times or performance we were expecting, but overall, a lot of positives to take away.”

Girls Varsity competed first. In a field of 78 runners and 5 teams, the Girls’ Varsity finished 5^th. Junior Jordan Pomeroy led the way, covering the 5 kilometer course in 23:47, good for 33^rd place. Junior Emma Toyama was second for the girls, finishing in 24:52, coming in 52^nd. Kylie Morisaki (26:11) and Kalyn Kershner (26:17) finished side by side, coming in 59 and 60th respectively. Faith Chang rounded out the top five, finishing in 28:16, good for 66th place.

“Our girls didn’t have the start they were hoping for. With a mix of early injuries and being away at camp, it was a learning experience. Their expectations are higher than this, so I am confident they will bounce back in a big way.”

For the Boys Varsity, Junior Adam Harder, fresh off his bronze medal Track season, led from start to finish, covering the boys 5k course in 16:47. Sophomore Ben Hodge, also coming out of a solid Track season, finished 5^th in 17:50. Junior Logan Castro placed 54^th (21:10), and Senior Seth Williams finished 74^th (22:50). There were 91 runners in all.

“Always nice to walk out with a win, which is what Adam accomplished today. Talking to the boys, they knew they ran with a little rust. I’m excited to see the corrections we will do this week to lower our times and build on this success. With Corban returning to the lineup next week, the boys are looking forward to seeing how we do in team standings”.

The Junior Varsity races also cover 5k. Freshman Kylie Castro led the way for the girls, finishing in 2^nd with a time of 23:21. Freshman Kevin Au led the boys, finishing 9^th with a 20:21.

With no intermediate girls competing for Hanalani this weekend, the Intermediate boys started their 2 mile race to close the day. The boys finished in team standings with a 9^th place overall, led by 8^th grader Ty Gonzales, who finished in 30^th with a time of 14:15.

“I thought the intermediate boys raced very well,” said Honold. “With a bunch of their teammates missing, and half of them in their first race ever, they exceeded their own expectations. Hopefully this gives them a taste of what is to come and we can use this race as a building block”.

Next week Cross-Country will compete at Central Oahu Regional Park. Intermediate girls will compete first, and that race will start at 2:30PM.

 

Full results can be found on Hanalani’s athletic.net webpage.