KAHUKU, O'ahu, Hawai'i – The Chaminade University men's and women's cross country teams concluded the 2021 season Saturday in the Pacific West Conference Championships, the first championships for both sports in two years.
Racing in familiar territory at the Kahuku Golf Course, where the Silverswords had two races there earlier this season, the women opened the event with an 11th-place finish with 300 points followed by the men's team, who came in ninth with 248 points.
In the women's 6-kilometer event,
Eri Leong (Las Vegas/SECTA) was the first Silversword to cross, logging a finishing time of 27 minutes, 51.4 seconds, coming in 63rd overall.
Caitlin Bocobo (Mililani, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Sacred Hearts Academy) came in about a minute-and-a-half later at 29:27.5 followed by
Ashley Yoshikawa (Northbrook, Ill./Glenbrook North) at 30:19.7.
Leila-Jayne Casison (Waipahu, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Waipahu) was Chaminade's next finisher at 31:31.9 with
Taylor Aguano (Gilbert, Ariz./Chandler) and
Kianna Swingle (Oro Valley, Ariz./Ironridge) recording times of 34:05.2 and 34:28.7, respectively.
Meanwhile in race for the PacWest Hawai'i Challenge, Hawai'i Pacific University won the first competition of the year, finishing first among the three local universities with 220 points to earn the three points to capture the women's cross country event. Hawai'i Hilo earned two points by finishing second while Chaminade received one.
Academy of Art won the PacWest women's title, edging Biola by a single point, 42-to-43. The Urban Knights' Natalia Novak was the PacWest individual ladies champion, recording a time of 22:15.1.
In the men's 8-k, Chaminade was paced by
Elijah Bernardo-Flores (Waipahu, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Kamehameha-Kapalama), who was the team's first finisher, placing No. 54 overall at 30:37.0 in his final race as a 'Sword.
Ben Salinas (Highland, Ind./Western Colorado Univeristy/Highland HS) was next at 31:26.1.
Kaulana Navares (Waianae, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Mililani) was the team's No. 3 finisher at 34:10.7.
A trio of Silverswords –
Peter Jan Ramos (Waipahu, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Waipahu),
Conor McMahon (Pacifica, Calif./Archbishop Riordan) and
Josiah Rodrigues (Honoka'a, Hawai'i/Honoka'a) – finished consecutively. Ramos clocked a time of 34:33.4, McMahon at 34:49.7 and Rodrigues at 36:46.0.
Owen Daugherty (Cedar Park, Texas/Cedar Park) was injured during the race and did not finish.
By having the first three finishers, Fresno Pacific captured its first PacWest title with 38 points while Biola finished as runners-up with 51. Sunbird Patrick Kiprop was the men's individual champion with a time of 24:38.2.
The top 21 finishers of both races earned All-PacWest honors. Chaminade served as lead hosts of the championships with assistance from HPU.
