Mustangs repeat as OIA XC boys' champions, Radford wins girls' title

Kalaheo's Avery Torres and Colby Otero runs side by side in the OIA championship run. Their efforts helped the Mustangs repeat as OIA boys' Cross Country champions. Leighland Tagawa | Special to SL

Kalaheo captured its second straight Oahu Interscholastic Association boys' championship last Saturday at Patsy T. Mink/Central Oahu Regional Park.

The Mustangs won the boys' title by 45 points over second place Campbell, 49 to 94, to win their fourth overall boys' title.

Kalaheo got first and second place finishes from Avery Torres (16:46.92) and Colby Otero (17:00.00), and had a fifth place finish by Cameron Brown (18:07.32) to lead the Mustangs' effort.

"This race was pretty good, I ran strong all the way though," said Torres, a senior. "Good to have my teammate Colby running with me. Colby pushes me to achieve my goals. He is like a brother to me."

Torres, who took first place in the 2015 championship, said he changed he up his strategy for the race.

"My usual game plan is to take the lead early and keep it for the whole race, but I went out a little slower this race," he said. "It's not how you start, its about how you finish. You just have to trust God, family and friends."

Meanwhile, Radford's Camryn Butz took first place in the girls' run with a time of 20 minutes, 53.41 seconds. Butz, a senior, won the race over Pearl City's Megumi Takushi by nearly 50 seconds (21:42.62).

Teammates Karla Angulo (21:50.43) and Taryn Trigler (22:08.54) finished third and fourth respectively to help the Rams to win their ninth girls' title and first since 2005.

The top 64 girls' runners from the OIA qualified for next week's Honolulu Marathon/Hawaii High School Athletic Association State Championships, which will be held at the campus of Hawaii Prep Academy on Hawaii Island this weekend.

"I'm really excited for states," said Butz. "The (Interscholastic League of Honolulu) girls are pretty fast so we'll see. I'm looking forward to the competition."