The pain in her right knee is bearable.
Just barely. For three weeks, Chenoa Frederick had endured and conquered.
On Friday and Saturday, the Kamehameha-Hawaii sophomore was strong enough to win three of her five events, breaking her own state record in the triple jump at the Island Movers/HHSAA Track and Field State Championships at Kamehameha.
She broke the previous triple-jump record by 2 inches with a leap of 39 feet, 10 inches, despite going against the wind. On top of that, she has dealt with a sharp pain in her right knee for three weeks.
She wasn’t satisfied, though. A week earlier, Frederick won six golds at the BIIF championships, including a personal best 41-0 in the triple jump.
“It hasn’t been enough time to recover. A lot of stretching, yoga, light work. I haven’t been to the doctor yet,” Frederick said. “That (39-10) is not what I wanted. Usually, girls triple jump is before all the sprinting events, but it was in the middle of my running, right after my 400. It wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t my best.”
After winning the jumps and the 100 hurdles, and running the 4×100 relay, she led halfway through the 400, but Frederick struggled in the stretch, crumbled after crossing the finish and needed help from a coach and an official getting off the track. Still, it was a fourth-place finish and got the Warriors some valuable points.
Punahou captured the girls team championship after a five-year drought. The Buffanblu girls piled up 92 points, with Seabury Hall second (61), Kamehameha-Hawaii third (46), ‘Iolani fourth (42) and Mililani fifth (25). Hawaii Baptist (24), Leilehua (21), Maui (18) and Baldwin (17) followed, with three schools — Kalani, Aiea and Hilo (16) — sharing 10th place.
Punahou’s crown is the 36th in school history. Since 2013, Seabury Hall (’14 and ’17), Kaiser (’15) and Hawaii Prep (’16) had usurped the throne.
“Coaching them keeps me young and they’re fun,” longtime Buffanblu coach Duncan Macdonald said. “We’ve got a great bunch of coaches who are wonderful. The Punahou way has always been seconds and thirds and fourths. Tonight, I think was our first individual victory in five years.”
Kaila Ronquillo won the 400 in 57.06. She is a sophomore, and the 400 runner-up, Allie Little (58.67), is a freshman.
Madison Moku of Hawaii Baptist won two golds on Saturday. First, she took the girls 100 hurdles after finishing third a year ago. She was second in Friday’s prelims at 15.62 to 15.50 by KS-Hawaii’s Saydee Aganus. On Saturday, in the finals, Moku crossed the finish line at 15.08. Aganus was runner-up at 15.28.
“Winning two (events) is so awesome. This is why I’ve been training with my brother all year. Today, well, first I had nerves. I was really excited because it’s senior year, my last chance to run here at Kamehameha,” she said. “I was super excited when I crossed that finish line — wow, did I really get first?”
Her thoughts immediately after the 100 hurdles were on younger brother Tanner, who runs hurdles for Kamehameha. He ran with pain in a foot that is recovering from a hairline fracture.
“I was concerned. I knew he really wanted to run this event. I’m proud of him for pulling through and putting it all on the track,” she said.
Moku also won the 300 hurdles (44.71), pulling away from Nikki Shimao of ‘Iolani (44.71).
“I’m so glad I’ve had Nikki running by my side every year. She pushed me to be better. She’s definitely going to kill it next year,” Moku said of the sophomore.
Kauai’s Taegan Keep won the girls discus title for a second year in a row. Her 127-04 edged Male Vaka of Hilo (126-00). Keep is on her way to BYU on a track and field scholarship. She didn’t start in the sport until sophomore year.
“Track and field is fairly new to me. Freshman year, I didn’t know it existed. My friend told me I should try out. I qualified for states in the fourth meet my sophomore year, and that’s when I bought the shoes and got my own discus. I never thought I would become a state champion. Even now, continuing into college, it’s awesome,” said Keep, who was also a standout basketball player for the Red Raiders.
“They have indoor track and field season, so I’m going to try javelin, hammer and weight throw,” she added. “I think javelin, I really want to try javelin.”
Seabury Hall took three of the top six spots in the girls 1,500 run, including winner Veronica Winham (4:50.27) barely edging Punahou’s Maiya Fujiwara (4:50.30). Seabury Hall’s Chloe Gangnath (4:50) and Kallalei Ryden (4:54) placed third and sixth.
Winham also won the 3,000 run in 10:49, a second ahead of ‘Iolani sophomore Aya Margraf (10:50). Darby Mulligan (10:52) placed third and Ryden, a sophomore, came in fifth (10:59).
