XC State Championships - Girls

Predicting the team finishes in a State Championship is only for fun. If I saw all the athletes as much as I see the ILH athletes, I'm sure I could do better. But, hey, I think I did pretty well.

The order I predicted was:

1. Punahou
2. Kamehameha-Kapalama
3. Iolani
4. Seabury
5. Maryknoll
6. Leilehua

I had the top 3 right - Punahou, Kamehameha and Iolani. Mililani was fourth, then Hawaii Prep and Kamehameha of the Big Island.

Seabury Hall was 7th so I messed up pretty well with them. My "sources" tell me that Seabury Hall had a bad day, that everyone but Hailey Grossman for various reasons, didn't run as well as they were expecting. It happens. The CORP course is tougher than it looks.

Mililani was fourth. That was one I should have been more accurate with. Yes, they are OIA, certainly not my specialty, but I probably know more about Mililani than any other OIA schools.

Hawaii Prep at fifth? I plead ignorance. Same with Kamehameha, Hawaii. I just don't follow the outer islands as well as I'd like to.

I was surprised at Leilehua's eighth place finish. They impressed me at the OIA Championships. Unfortunately, Leilehua was heavy with seniors so this might have been the year they had to do it. Maybe they have some youngsters coming up?

So what about next year? This is where it gets real interesting.

Punahou - will still be the team to beat. They will lose 3 seniors from this year's championship team, but they are loaded with girls to move up. Their JV team would have done very well in this meet. Beware of Punahou!

Kamehameha - They don't lose anyone. Lots of Juniors. Next year will be a big year for Kamehameha, Oahu.

Iolani - Loses 3 seniors but the top 4 runners are all 9th and 10th graders, and the pipeline is full. Iolani will be stronger next year and could challenge for the top.

Maryknoll - If the HHSAA let Haley run for Maryknoll in the States, Maryknoll would challenge for the top spot. But even without Haley next year, they will add a few 9th graders that will help them a lot. I'd like to see this situation resolved. Seems to me that the ILH and HHSAA rules need to be consistent. Personally, I'd like to see Haley be able to run for whatever team she runs for in the ILH. Messy situation that makes it hard to handicap Maryknoll. Having a team that has the #1 and #2 runners in the state (in my opinion) not being able to compete in states is a very strange (and sad) situation.

Mililani loses 3 seniors but their pipeline is deep, as always. They will remain near the top.

Hawaii Prep - time to rebuild. They are loaded with seniors. I don't know what their pipeline looks like.

Seabury Hall - Seabury loses a few seniors, BUT, Seabury is a school to watch. Lea Lundblad (currently 8th grade) will challenge Julie for the top spot next year. I've also heard Seabury will be getting some top transfers that will help them. Seabury should be much stronger next year.

The 4 runners pictured on this page are Julie Besenbruch (19:27), Kristin Ali Keith (19:53), Chelsea Smith-Wish (19:56) and Lea Lundblad winning at the Iolani Invitational at Kualoa earlier in the season.

As always, comments are always welcome.