This time, the course at Hawaii Preparatory Academy was pristine, green and, most importantly, dry.
The mud bog of the race in 2021 is a distant memory. Stephen Kozuma of Radford was ready for any circumstance, including the hilly terrain, and earned gold with a time of 17 minutes, 23.12 seconds, in the boys individual race at the Honolulu Marathon/HHSAA Cross Country State Championships on Saturday morning.
“It was beautiful — sunny, a little wind,” Kozuma said.
Kozuma edged Luke Silva of Kamehameha, who was a fraction of a second off at 17:23.49. Rocco Calandra of Kaiser (17:35.38), Philipp Gerstegarbe of Hawaii Prep (17:37.85) and Silas Miller-Yodar of Seabury Hall (17:40.24) rounded out the first five harriers.
Last year, Kozuma was runner-up as a junior in the state cross country meet behind James Millare of Moanalua. Millare and Kozuma were 1 and 2 in the 1,500- and 3,000-meter runs at the track and field state championships last spring. This time, he enjoyed the journey as much as the reward.
“This year, I focused on the process, not the result. Being able to work every day, that’s really the dream. I’ve enjoyed the process of getting better every day,” Kozuma said.
Radford’s boys team finished fourth in Division I, while the girls team placed seventh. They were ready for the ups and downs of the HPA course.
“We trained a lot on hills this season at AMR (Aliamanu Military Reservation),” Kozuma said.
The Rams landed on the Big Island on Friday morning and returned to Oahu on Saturday afternoon.
“I’m going to celebrate by spending time with my friends and family,” Kozuma said. “I’m going to go trick or treating with them.”
His preferred treat is Milky Way. Before the race, he fueled up on canned chicken, two hard-boiled eggs and minute rice.
“I ate (the chicken) straight from the bag,” said Kozuma, who is 5 feet, 8 inches tall and 140 pounds. “I’ve been cutting out carbs and eating more vegetables. Gaining more muscle in the weight room.”
Mililani’s Kaitlyn Bitterman captured the girls individual title with a time of 19:48.88. Her fellow Trojan Adarra Thomas was runner-up (20:04.13), followed by Zadie Bolton of Kealakehe (20:30.79), Kaiya Shigemoto of Mililani (20:44.42) and defending champion Sadie Krueger of Moanalua (20:59.52).
Bitterman, Thomas and Shigemoto powered Mililani to the girls team championship. Audrey Rodrigues (eighth, 21:08) and Hailey Taira (41st, 24:12) rounded out their top five times.
Mililani’s 56-point total was just enough to edge Punahou (60). Kamehameha (147), Kealakehe (160), Kalaheo (162) and ‘Iolani (162) rounded out the top six spots.
Hanalani captured the girls Division II title with 23 points. Stella Lynn (21:39) led all D-II girls runners. The Royals’ top five with Lynn were Abigail Cunningham (second, 21:50), Eliana Chingcuangco (fifth, 22:32), Carolina Inafuku (sixth, 23:12) and Julia Reilly (ninth, 23:23).
Kamehameha led the boys D-I team standings with 52 points. Joining Silva were Quiro Soares (eighth, 18:22), Kahiau Engle (ninth, 18:42), Raymond Garman IV (10th, 18:42) and Bryce Felipe (23td, 19:25).
Mililani placed second in the boys team scores with 54 points, followed by Punahou (105), Radford (171) and Kalaheo (179) in the top five.
Host Hawaii Prep led the D-II boys team battle with 25 points. Gerstegarbe had the fastest time among D-II boys runners, with Chihiro Sato (fourth, 17:44), Jack Soon-Ludes (fifth, 17:57), Micah McDowell (sixth, 18:11) and Finn McMahan (ninth, 18:50) boosting Ka Makani.
Seabury Hall (44 points) was runner-up, followed by Hawaii Baptist (53) and Kauai (108)
