Track and Field

On this date in 1959, Herb Enos of Saint Louis warmed up for the first official state track and field championships by breaking a 19 year-old record. Enos went over six feet in the high jump to break Alex Cheong of Kamehameha’s record from 1940. Iolani’s Tennyson Lum tied the record with a 21.6 in the 180 hurdles despite a fall earlier in the meet. Punahou won the meet at Alexander Field behind speedster Mike Tice and Herb Austin. The […]

People can debate great players and teams across eras all they want, but there is no debate that the older generations had the best nicknames. Hilo’s James “Useless” Puuohau was undeniably one of the greatest athletes in the entire history of the Big Island. It was his moniker, which he kept throughout his athletic career, that stood out the most. He was referred to as “useless” by newspapers as much as his first name was used. On this day in […]

On this date in 1925, Herbert Deverill of Punahou broke a record in the half mile despite a slippery track around Alexander Field. He built a 10-yard lead in the first 100 and clocked a time of 51.4 seconds. He also contributed to a Buffanblu victory in the half mile relay as Punahou won going away. Click the image to zoom.

On this date in 1955, Roosevelt was the team to beat in every event in track and field. Tiki Vasconcellos‘ Rough Riders won 11 of 12 events and set seven records in meet the public schools championship. Their success wasn’t limited to public schools, though, as Roosevelt went on to sweep the Cornell Relays and Prep Championship later in the year. Punahou finished second in both.

For one sunny day, Waianae defensive back James Woodard reigned as the greatest sprinter in OIA varsity history. On this date in 1980, Woodard ran the 100 meters in 10.9 seconds during the OIA West championships at Moanalua. It established a record in the event, but so did the winner of every other running race. The state switched to the metric system for that season, making it the first time the race was run longer than 100 yards.  “I was used […]

Lane assignments for the Cornell Relays at Kamehameha were drawn at the YMCA on March 19, 1931, with Bill Wise‘s Kamehameha crew the heavy favorite but Saint Louis expected to threaten them. Other schools entered included Punahou, McKinley and Saint Louis. The meet, which had been held every year since 1913, was much hyped in the newspaper, with stories advancing it every day until the action began with sports writers picking Kamehameha to beat Saint Louis by three points. When […]