MIL strikes gold in state track

By Fred Guman
MauiNow.Com

Living up to expectations is never easy, but a number of MIL athletes rose to the occasion at the state high school track and field championships held over the weekend at Ke’eau High School on the Big Island.

The MIL combined to win eight gold medals – six of them claimed by King Kekaulike.  Leading the way were a pair of Na Alii senior classmates and distance runners.

Bailey Massenburg repeated as champion in both the 800 and 1,500 meters in addition to running a leg on the victorious 1,600 relay team.   Massenburg, who is also a standout in cross country, claimed six state titles over the past two academic years.

Reid Hunter also won the 800 and set a state record in the 1,500 with a time of 4 minutes, 3.98 seconds.

Yet another Na Alii – Jay-Ar Agabay – registered perhaps the biggest upset of the meet when he won the high jump with a mark of 6 feet, 6 inches.  His previous best was 6-1.

St. Anthony’s Billy Pacheco took top honors in the pole vault.

St. Louis captured the state boy’s team title by finishing third in the final race of the meet, the 1,600 relay, to edge out ILH rival Punahou.   The Punahou girls won only two individual races but placed in 10 of 16 events to easily win the team title.

VOLLEYBALLL Seabury Hall settled for fourth place in Division-II while Kamehameha-Maui finished sixth in D-I at the stage boy’s volleyball tournament.

GOLF:  Michelle Wie struggled in the final round, firing a 1-over 73, but still finished in a tie for third place in the Sybase Classic in New Jersey.   Wie was 80under for the tournament, trailing winner Ji Young Oh, a 20-year-old from South Korea, by six strokes.  Runner-up Suzan Petterson was four back.

UH BASEBALL:  The University of Hawaii suffered its second lopsided home loss in as many days to lowly regarded Utah Valley in Sunday’s regular-season finale.  The 10-2 setback came on the heels of a 12-1 loss on Saturday, dropping UH’s record to 31-24 overall going into the WAC tournament that opens Thursday at Les Murakami Stadium. The Wolverines improved to 18-35 for the season.

Thursday’s first-round matchups:  Nevada versus regular-season champion San Jose State at 11 a.m., followed by New Mexico State versus defending NCAA champ Fresno State at 3, and UH versus second-seeded Louisiana Tech at 7.