HONOLULU –
Shadrack Nabea has never had so many returnees as he does in 2022. The ninth-year men's and women's cross country head coach returns his almost entire men's roster while the women's team also has nearly everyone back, including their top runners, from 2021.
With such a wealth of experience, the 2022 Silverswords have the makings to make some noise at the Pacific West Conference Championships later this fall.
The 'Swords open their season this Saturday in the University of Hawai'i Manoa's Big Wave Invitational at the Kahuku Golf Course. That will be followed by their own Chaminade Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 17 at Patsy T. Mink Central O'ahu Regional Park in Waipahu.
On the men's side, six of the team's seven runners are back including
Owen Daugherty (Cedar Park, Texas/Cedar Park) who had three first-place team finishes a year ago.
Ben Salinas (Highland, Ind./Western Colorado Univ./Highland HS) had a pair of team runner-up placements while
Peter Jan Ramos (Waipahu, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Waipahu) enjoyed two third-place team finishes.
Conor McMahon (Pacifica, Calif./Archbishop Riordan) and
Josiah Rodrigues (Honoka'a, Hawai'i/Honoka'a) are also back.
What might greatly help the 'Swords is the return of two faces. One is
Elijah Bernardo-Flores (Waipahu, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Kamehameha-Kapalama) who is returning for a fifth season, thanks to taking the NCAA season-of-competition waiver which restored an extra year of eligibility after the loss of the 2020 championship year. Bernardo-Flores was the team's top finisher at the PacWest Championships last fall and had two second-place team finishes.
The other is
Peyton Oshiro (Honolulu/Hawai'i Baptist Academy) who is back after a two-year absence from the team. In 2019, Oshiro had Chaminade's top time in the first four races.
On the women's team, both
Eri Leong (Las Vegas/SECTA) and
Caitlin Bocobo (Mililani, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Sacred Hearts Academy) combined to capture all four of the 'Swords' first-place team finishes in 2021 with Leong being involved in three of them.
Ashley Yoshikawa (Northbrook, Ill./Glenbrook North) put together an effective freshman season.
Montserrat Lanfranco (Honolulu/Roosevelt) will try to put an injury-plagued 2021 behind her while
Leila-Jayne Casison (Waipahu, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Waipahu) is also back for a second season.
The Silverswords welcome a pair of newcomers in
Zoe McDonough (Fremont, Calif./Washington) and
Anne Drelling (Orange County, Calif./Canyon).
This year's PacWest Championships will be held in San Leandro, California, on Nov. 5.
