LYRAH PANARIGAN
STAFF WRITER
The MoHS Cross Country runners started the course facing many challenges, ending with personal achievements, newfound camaraderie, and attitude. This season for the team highlights Junior Dallas Inouye and Freshman Maleah Kanayama, where Inouye placed first in the OIA Eastern Championships with Kanayama following second, respectively.
“... It felt like all my hard work throughout the season paid off,” Inouye said. Inouye also placed sixteenth at the HHSAA Cross Country State Championships following her OIA title, something she “didn’t think would happen this season, so being able to accomplish that was very fulfilling.” she adds.
The team consisted of 14 new runners and 7 returnees, who lifted each other’s spirits as they ran through the season. “... The new members on the team are very supportive and [wanted] to do something new at practice,” Girls Captain Elleasa Dishmon said. Former member and alumni Kalika Grace-Gandeza, who now helps out as an Assistant Coach, is proud of the team and this years season. “The practices and meets mde us come closer together and as being a coach for the first year I felt happy to be with the team again.” Gandeza said. “One of my favorite things was the 14 hour relay, it was a great team bonding,” Kanayama adds.
“A lot of it’s individual but I think the big thing about being a team sport, when you practice together for one, you’re all helping each other out,” Boy’s Captain Peyton Yamamoto says. “Even if you don’t feel motivated that day, your teammates will push you forward and encourage you to strive even when the times are tough… theres a bond that grows and that bond is translated at the meet,” Boy’s Captain Quentin Carder adds.
At OIA Varsity Easterns, the boys team placed fourth overall, with junior Andre Marin placing 11th, Carder placing 15th, and Yamamoto in 23rd. The girls team placed first overall, with Inouye first and Kanayama second, followed by junior Kayleigh Riley placing 15th, freshman Melodi Carder placing 17th, and Dishmon placing 19th.
The team is heading to California in early December to compete in a Western Regional meet, held at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut, California.