Otero, Winham set the pace at Hawaii state meet

By Ian Tsang for DyeStat

KAUAI -- Kalaheo High's Colby Otero returned from an early season ankle injury and crossed the Hawaii state cross country championship finish line with a 23-second advantage to win gold in 16 minutes, 21 seconds Saturday over Castle's Hudson Lockette.

Punahou’s Aaron Shiinoki, who won the ILH League Championship, pushed the pace through the first mile. However, Otero surged after that point and he broke away from the pack. 

PHOTOS

“I didn’t want to leave any regrets, so I went with a suicide pace,” Otero said.

His title is an improvement on last year when he finished third. Shiinoki later fell back to seventh to finish in 17:06. 

Iolani’s Jason Wang finished third overall despite heading into the race as one of the favorites. Until last week, he was undefeated in Hawaii. Wang’s time of 16:51 led his team to the Division 1 title with 39 points. Maui High was second with 97 points and Punahou finished third with 105.

In Division 2, Hawaii Baptist Academy scored 42 points to win the team title. Hawaii Prep finished with 49 points for second, and Seabury Hall finished third with 63 points.

On the girls side, Veronica Winham of Seabury Hall defended her title, running 19:16. Winham led the whole way and by a quarter mile already possessed nearly a 20-meter lead.

“Usually I’m able to just run and have fun, but last year was such a surprise (winning the title) and I really wanted to do that again,” Winham said.

Her teammates, Darby Mulligan (fourth), Kallalei Ryden (fifth), Chloe Gangnath (13th) and Erika Presault (20th) carried the Lady Spartans, who won both the Division 2 and overall titles -- beating out Punahou, the Division 1 champ, 43 to 69. It was the Spartans' second year topping both the Division 1 and Division 2 teams and their sixth consecutive Division 2 title. Seabury Hall scored 23 points in Division 2 and Punahou scored 19 points in Division 1.

Freshman standout Johanna Seng finished second in 19:47, leading Hawaii Baptist Academy to second place in Division 2 with 46 points. St. Andrew’s Jordan Jones faced complications mid-race and finished third in 20:02 despite holding the state’s fastest 5-kilometer mark this year (18:24).

The Iolani girls scored 51 points for second in Division 1.

RESULTS

Team Champions

Division 1 Boys - Iolani 39 points

Division 1 Girls - Punahou 19 points

Division 2 Boys - Hawaii Baptist Academy 42 points

Division 2 Girls - Seabury Hall 23 points