Kruse, Beaman lead the way to ILH sweep at state championship

There was Kaeo Kruse and everybody else at the Honolulu Marathon/HHSAA Cross Country Championships on Saturday.

Kamehameha’s Kruse covered the 3 miles on the Seabury Hall campus in a blazing 15 minutes, 22.23 seconds. It was the first time the event was held on that course and Kruse made the most of the fast track by breaking Jeremy Kamakaala’s state meet record of 15:22.4, set at Kauai Community College in 2005.

The Kamehameha senior, who defended the title he won at Central Oahu Regional Park last year in 15:38.19, beat runner-up Louie Ondo of Waiakea by 53 seconds on Saturday. That is the largest margin of victory since the event began in 1965, topping the 46 seconds Kalaheo’s Shawn Nixon won the 1993 meet by.

As dominant as Kruse was on Saturday, he didn’t walk away with everything he wanted. His Warriors finished third as a team to break a three-year winning streak.

‘Iolani had the honors of breaking that streak for its first team title since 2005, scoring 79 points to beat Punahou’s 100. Kamehameha finished with 105.

Beaman brings it

Reigning ILH champion Amanda Beaman earned her first state cross country title by winning the girls race in 18:26.74, beating Punahou’s Teresa Brady by a comfortable 17 seconds. Beaman was sixth in the race as a freshman and followed that up with consecutive second-place finishes behind Seabury Hall’s Dakota Grossman and Kaiser’s Lisa Tashiro before breaking through.

Brady didn’t win the battle with Beaman, but her team won the war. The Buffanblu girls easily took the team title, scoring 46 points to Seabury Hall’s 104 and ‘Iolani’s 108.