It’s not easy being the best sprinter in the land; you always have to climb higher than everyone else to accept your medal.
Pearl City’s Diamond Briscoe climbed the top rung of the podium five times at Mililani on Saturday, winning the 100, 200, 400, 4×400 and the team title. She had to climb it to accept her medal for the 200 immediately after the 4×400 and it looked like it took some effort.
It was Pearl City’s first track and field championship since 2004, as the Chargers beat Radford 103-93. Campbell was third with 55 points.
Mililani won its first boys title since 2010, breaking Radford’s two-year winning streak.
Briscoe had good reason to be walking around like an old lady after the relay — she moved her team from third to first on her anchor leg and she felt it.
"It’s not easy running a 400," Briscoe said. "But I just slowly close whatever gap there is, and if I have the energy to push it I just push it."
Valencia Faateleupu kept the Chargers in the middle of the pack in the first leg, and Alyssa Ueda maintained it. She handed the baton to Maile Shigemasa and the distance runner put Pearl City in third, a little bit behind Radford and a lot behind Mililani. Shigemasa, who won the 1,500 and 3,000 meters for Pearl City but was pressed into action in the relay because Parishaan Carter-Amorin had to leave early for the prom, then passed the baton to Briscoe so that the crowd could see a show. Briscoe passed the Radford girl before the second turn, then set her sights on Mililani anchor Leah Keller. She caught Keller 200 meters in and opened a gap between them, but Keller rallied and nearly caught Briscoe to the line.
"I heard everybody," Briscoe said. "I knew she was close, but I had to win for our team. Our team tries so hard."
Pearl City coach Donaldo Hopper believes Briscoe is completely right, if not understating things a little. The Chargers have a small team, but they banded together to win the crown.
"These are the hardest-working Pearl City girls I have ever had the privilege of coaching," Hopper said. "Other teams have like 15-20 girls, but we have six or seven girls, but these kids worked four years to get this kind of result."
In addition to wins by Briscoe and Shigemasa, the Chargers got a victory from Alexia Blalock in the triple jump. None of them threatened any records — the only mark set on the rainy day was by Rachel Craft of Kaiser in the pole vault. She cleared 11 feet, 2 inches to beat former Kaiser vaulter Sage Hinthaus’ mark of 10-8 set in 2009.
Mililani won the boys crown on its home track by seven points over Campbell after it came in third in the 4×400 behind the Sabers and first-place Radford. The Rams finished just three points behind Campbell.
Kahlil Stevens led the Trojans with a high jump of 6-6 to win that event, while Dustin Camarillo took the 110 hurdles and Lance Loventhal won the 400-meter dash.
"I guess it means a lot; we put in a lot of work this season," Loventhal said. "We had new people coming in and we had Khalil Stevens, who is just phenomenal. States is a possibility as long as we put in the work and stay healthy."
States won’t be easy, even though it is on their home track. The Mililani boys were as short-handed as the Pearl City girls, getting points from seven different athletes.
"We were hoping we would have a chance to win it," Mililani coach Dane Matsunaga said. "We weren’t really loaded up, so it was a tough task, but the kids pulled through."
