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States Hawaii 2003 Cross Country

5th Iolani Invitational
Sep 20, 2003 at Kualoa Ranch, Oahu HI

Varsity Girls 5k


Sultana CA girls answer gut check,
Shelby Leland embraces the Iolani tradition

story by Rich Gonzalez, photos by John Dye

Soph Danielle Varela led US#3 Sultana in 3rd place
Every point counted - Stacy Tabuena rallies for 9th place here over Gabi Rios-Sotelo of St. Mary's College..

US#8 Snohomish WA had a tighter pack, led by Amanda Stopa's 5th place finish.
Shelby Leland breezed over course that humbled others
Maui native Tia Ferguson has returned home after running for San Marcos Santa Barbara CA last year, and she was a strong second.

Kualoa Ranch, HI -- Minutes after Saturday's grueling 5-kilometer challenge at the 5th annual Iolani Invitational, Sultana High girls coach John Mahr admitted he had an awkward feeling eating inside of him.

"That's a bit too close for comfort," admitted Mahr, awaiting team scores after his third-ranked nationally squad from Southern California clashed with Washington state power and eighth-ranked nationally Snohomish High.

Mahr's girls encountered a similar sensation midrace -- a condition known as "gut-check" time.

The Sultans responded to their huge mid-race challenge, however, taking command along the final half-mile to down Snohomish, 48-52, in a thrilling battle truly decided in the final strides. Each squad placed five scorers among the races top 20 finishers, with Sultana earning the victory when its 2-3 scorers (Kelsey Delagardelle and Stacy Tabuena) outleaned one opposing runner and also beat a Snohomish scorer by two seconds.

"They didn't leave anything out there the last 20 seconds or so," said Mahr, citing his team's strong closing despite humid conditions and temperatures through to creep into the 80's. "With the hills, all the turns and the long downhills, this course was good for us, but having done no speedwork, I was concerned a bit on the flats... But the girls handled the last part well. The two girls we have with asthma also finished well, so we're pretty pumped up about that."

1 mile - 6:00 - Ferguson, Leland, Varela

Leland moved out in the second mile.

2 miles - 12:12
Leland is all alone now

 

Through two miles, Snohomish had five runners positioned ahead of Sultana's final scorer, with one of the Panthers also closing ground on Sultana's trio of frontrunners. But Sultana, a team which trains in the arid conditions and tough inclines during the summertime, utilized its seemingly superior strength to finish best on the loop-and-out course that many runners deemed "the toughest" they had ever experienced.

The only runner found to truly enjoy the course and hint at welcoming an even tougher challenge was race winner Shelby Leland of Ukiah, becoming that school's second athlete to win the race in the short five-year history of the event (her former teammate, Amber Trotter, won in 2001). Leland's victory, a thoroughly dominating 41-second triumph over runner-up Tia Ferguson of Seabury Hall, is accompanied by an intriguing side note, as three of the meet's previous four girls champions went on to become FootLocker national champion later that year, and the fourth was also a Foot Locker finalist.

"I just felt kind of good and went for it," explained Leland, who is new to all this race-leading strategy. "I'm more a follower than a leader (in races), so it felt a little uncomfortable in front at first. After a while, I got used to it and then felt pretty relaxed."

Leland came across the mile at six-minute pace, an announcement which startled her. Miffed at the eased starting pace, Leland then made a bold move in the middle mile, seizing the lead before a second ascent of the layout's toughest incline and then powering away along the hills. Her strength entering the final mile rekindled images of vintage Trotter in a Ukiah uniform, serving notice to the rest of the Western United States that a new queen for 2003 may be emerging.

Though Leland's winning time was a seemingly slow 19:00, her margin of victory was staggering in vanquishing some of the Golden State elite. Even more telling of the course's challenging nature were the team times, where winning Sultana totalled 102:43 for its scoring five, or roughly 10 minutes slower than its record clockings at both the Mt. SAC and Woodward Park layouts last year.

Ferguson's runner-up placing was a solid homecoming for a former Southern California standout. Competing for San Marcos High last year, Ferguson returned to where she initially began her high school career. Her hard early pace on the course quickly began stringing out the lead pack, with Leland being the only one eventually able to cover her moves. Sultana sophomore Danielle Varela placed third (19:52), rouinding out the meet's only sub-20:00 performers. Peninsula's Brooke Lademan overtook all-state teammate Olga Aulet-Leon in the second mile to place fourth overall, with Aulet Leon taking sixth. Snohomish went 5-7-11-16-18 in posting a very impressive 54-second scoring gap here to nearly upset Sultana.

Peninsula, which had four scorers in the top 25, placed third in the team standings with 85 points while Eisenhower of Washington settled for fourth (168 points). Host Iolani outraced Kamehameha (187 to 209) for fifth place and early-season bragging rights on the island state. Although Ferguson was handily the state's top female finishers, other outstanding Hawaii performers included Iolani teammates Joleen Oshiro and Nicole Anderson (15th and 17th, respectively) and Kamehameha's Jessica Domingo (21st overall).

Sultana prepares at the starting line
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Iolani Invitational

 


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