In basketball, Waiakea’s Louie Ondo faces constant contact. From hand checks to man-to-man pressure, the guard is eye to eye with his opponents.

In cross country, the Waiakea senior has kept his distance from other runners — mainly because his opponents haven’t closed the gap Ondo has created.

Ondo won all seven of his Big Island Interscholastic Federation races in his first year of cross country last year and finished third at the state championship. This year, the senior won all BIIF races he competed in — with margins ranging from 17 seconds to a minute — until this past Saturday, when he placed second. Kealakehe’s Ziggy Bartholomy won in 16 minutes, 29.70 seconds. Ondo was second in 16:47.59.

“It’s probably the best thing that happened to him, that he did lose a race today,” Waiakea coach Jordan Rosado said by phone shortly after the meet. “It’ll inspire him to work harder and not take things for granted.”

The surprise that Ondo didn’t cross the finish line first was as shocking as the success he has had. He started running simply to prepare for JV basketball as a freshman. But he caught the attention of the cross country team when he sped by them.

It took some convincing to get Ondo to run full-time. He turned out for track as a sophomore and won the 800- and 1,500-meter runs at the BIIF championship. His performance in cross country and a 1,500 state title last year drew the attention of some college coaches.

“It’s something that I look forward to because it shows that I’m able to run for a higher (level),” Ondo said.

Ondo’s athletic background has carried over into running. He outkicked Kamehameha’s Kaeo Kruse, the state cross country champion, in the final stretch to win the 1,500 at the state meet. That burst was likely honed from his point guard duties on the basketball court.

“I saw that I was so close,” Ondo said. “I didn’t want to give up.

“It showed me that I needed to work harder, that I can do it. I’m not someone that cannot.”

To gauge himself against runners outside the BIIF, Ondo competed in September’s ‘Iolani Invitational at Kualoa Ranch. Kruse, whom Ondo was looking forward to running against, didn’t compete in the meet. Ondo placed eighth in 16:30.87 and was the first Hawaii finisher in the field with local and mainland teams.

Even on days without practices, Ondo is likely doing a core workout, running on a treadmill or training inside Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.

“Volcano, it’s very thin air,” Ondo explained. “I go up there and I run this hill that goes down to the crater and back up.”

Ondo has worked with other Waiakea runners, helping them improve their times. Waiakea topped the team standings at Saturday’s Keaau meet with 34 points.

“He leads them. He’s helped out a lot of the boys get faster,” Rosado said. “That’s something I admire about him that he’s taken on and done.”

The High School Top 10

Voted on by coaches and media statewide. First-place votes in parentheses. Ten points for first-place votes, nine for second, etc.

Top Performers

LINEMAN OF THE WEEK
Christian Naeole, ‘Iolani
The 5-foot-9, 196-pound defensive end sacked Saint Louis quarterback Tua Tagovailoa twice and returned a fumble 79 yards for a touchdown.

BACK OF THE WEEK
Ty-Noah Williams, Kapolei
The 5-foot-10, 175-pound senior amassed a school-record 313 yards on seven receptions, including touchdown plays of 57, 75, 49 and 59 yards, against Castle in the opening round of the OIA Division I playoffs. He had more receiving yardage in this game than he did all of last season.