On Sept. 28, 2024, a cross-country meet was held at Kalani High School at 8 a.m. The meet featured most of the teams in the Oahu Interscholastic Division as well as a team from King’s Academy in California. It marked the first official event hosted at Kalani after seven years. Cross country is a sport where people run long distances on an open outdoor course. The course took athletes on a 5k trek around campus, roughly 3.1 miles. 

The races included separate categories for Varsity, Junior Varsity, and Open. Varsity and Junior Varsity included team scoring with five to seven runners and had time limits of 25 minutes for boys and 30 minutes for girls. The Open race that followed was non-competitive with a 35-minute time limit. The maximum number of runners per race for Varsity and junior varsity was 150, and 200 for Open. 

“In the past meets, JV had to run first, but at yesterday’s meet Varsity ran first,” Annilis Ung (10) explained. “It was helpful for me because I usually feel rushed running first as JV. Allowing experienced varsity runners to go first helps me warm up better.” 

The award ceremony was held at 11:15 a.m. for the Varsity and JV races. Awards were handed out to the top 20 finishers in both the Varsity and JV categories. Senior night was also held after the awards ceremony to congratulate the seniors on completing their final season. Gifts such as leis and posters were given, followed by a potluck at the end of the night to celebrate.

“I tried my best that day and had fun. It was great to have a race at our home course. Congrats to the seniors!” Ung exclaims.