Off to the Races

Molokai teams prep for post-season tournaments.

By Dan Murphy

While most Molokai High students were enjoying their break from school last week, members of the cross country and air riflery teams were hard at work on Maui getting ready for their seasons finales.

Girls Cross Country
Both the Girls’ and Boys’ Cross Country teams put up a strong showing this weekend finishing in third and fourth places, respectively. The weekend’s race at Kapalua was the final tune-up for runners before the Maui Interscholastic League (MIL) Championships on Oct. 24.

“The team practiced really hard over the break and it was great to see all that work really pay off on Saturday,” Girls Coach Lee DeRouin said. “We’re really proud of where the girls are now versus where they were when they came into the season.”

Sophomore Petrisha Alvarez led the way for the female Farmers crossing the line in 17th place with a time of 24:37. Three runners and thirty seconds later, fellow sophomore Charisse Manley joined Alvarez as the second Molokai runner to finish.

“On Molokai, we don’t have any girls race in the JV. So, Petrisha and Charisse would have been right up there medaling in the JV race, but they’re running varsity. They’re still doing very well,” DeRouin said.

The next pair of Farmers were juniors Sharali Dudoit-Enos and Marissa Sterner, who finished within less than a second of each other in 27th and 28th place. Louisa Torres-Umi and senior Kalani Wainright rounded out the pack for Molokai. Their combined scores totaled 89 points which landed the team third place overall.

DeRouin said the team’s goal for the MIL Championship is to place as many girls as possible in the state tournament on Kauai. The top two teams in the conference send seven girls each and 13 other runners receive at-large bids. Molokai most likely will not finish in the top two, but they do have a chance to nab some of the at-large spots.

DeRouin said Alvarez’s time should be good enough to qualify her, and Sterner and Manley were right on the cusp. The state meet takes place Oct. 30.

Boys Cross Country
On the boys’ side, senior Alvin Ringor missed a top ten finish by less than ten seconds. Ringor finished just behind Lanai’s Jordan Ordonez-Ohashi in 11th place with a time of 18:21.

Junior Kevin Dudoit (18:48) was next to cross for Molokai in 14th place. He was followed by Julien Bumatay and the Adolpho twins. Bumatay placed 17th and freshmen Akona and Israel Adolpho finished in 16th and 19th, all coming in around the 19-minute mark. Sophomore Kailen Inouye rounded out the Molokai pack with a final time of 21:30.

The boys’ team totaled 78 points, putting them behind Maui High, Baldwin and Maui Prep in the conference-wide race.

Air Riflery
The armed Farmers also had their final qualifying meet before the MIL championship last Saturday. The boys Air Riflery team sent three shooters to the tournament to get ready for this Saturday’s championship match.

Guy Brito and brothers Hunter and Landon Kalaikane competed for Molokai and all finished within five points of one another.

“They did a little bit better than I expected. They were about average,” said Head Coach David Kalani.

Hunter Kalaikane’s overall score of 193 put him  in 17th overall. Landon was only two points behind his brother and tied Baldwin’s Tyler Bersamin for 18th place. Guy Brito had the highest score of the day for Molokai with an 88 in the prone competition. Brito ended up with 188 total points and a 20th place finish.

This Saturday, Molokai will send eight boys and five girls to the MIL Championship meet.