The varsity boys 4 x 400 relay team took first place in a time of 3:40.0 at MIL Meet #4 at War Memorial Stadium on March 8, 2013. Senior Jamal Jones anchored the team and crossed the finish line about 20 meters in front of his nearest competitor.
The 4-by-400 team consisted of seniors, with Billy Ayakawa starting, followed by Tyler MacArthur, Luke Batoon, and Jamal Jones. This is the first time they have run together as a team.
It was a good combination, beating the Warriors’ fastest 4 x 400 race from Meet #1, which was 3:49.2.
“It was pretty good for our first meet together,” Jones said. “This is supposed to be our set up for the year.”
MacArthur opened up a large lead for the Warriors in the second leg, which Batoon and Jones held onto for the rest of the race.
“It felt like running against ourselves,” Jones said. “There wasn’t anyone to compete with next to us so we didn’t push as hard as we would’ve liked to.”
“It’s hard to truly win with the feeling of no competition,” MacArthur said.
Batoon, who ran third, said “It was different to run third, but once I get my conditioning up, I’ll be a lot better.”
“We have really improved over last week,” Head Coach Rudy Huber said. “We are becoming more solid every week.”
After placing first in the last two meets (with different combinations of runners), the boys 4 x 400 team will continue to look for competition while conditioning and trying to avoid injury.
Other races where the Maui Warriors placed first were the girls 4 x 100, girls triple jump (junior Shalia Kamakaokalani), girls hurdles (senior Raven Poepoe), and girls 200-meter dash (Freshman Taira Lucas).
“We also placed a lot in second and third,” Coach Huber said. “We are striving to win MIL.” The Maui Interscholastic League champion is determined by adding all of the points earned by each athlete or team in each event at the championship; therefore, placing second and third in many events is important.
Another highlight of the evening was senior Kalaʻi Yap’s third-place finish in the 110-meter boys hurdles, qualifying for states with a time of 15.71.
