Student-athlete profile: Keilana Maldonado, Kamehameha Maui cross country
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Kamehameha Maui’s Keilana Maldonado won the MIL girls cross country title in 20:19, led the Warriors to the best girls team score, then was the top Maui County girl at the HHSAA state meet.
Every Wednesday, we shine a light on a Maui County student-athlete. This week it’s Keilana Maldonado, the distance runner who set the pace for Kamehameha Maui girls cross country this fall.
MIL champion
At the Maui Interscholastic League championships on Saturday, Oct. 24, at Baldwin High School, Maldonado won the girls race in 20 minutes, 19 seconds, according to The Maui News. She crossed 13 seconds ahead of the runner-up.
She had plenty of company near the front. Teammates Kalici Chaves (fifth, 21:33), Haliʻa Maldonado (ninth, 22:15) and Leialoha Akiona (11th, 22:47) also finished in the top 11. Kamehameha Maui posted the best girls team score of the day with 36 points. In cross country the lowest score wins, and the next-best team, Maui High, scored 63.
Top Maui County girl at state
One week later, on Oct. 31, Maldonado ran 22:12 at the HHSAA state championships on the Hawaiʻi Preparatory Academy campus in Waimea. That was Kamehameha Maui’s top time and the fastest by any Maui County girl in the Division I race, per the HHSAA team results. Kamehameha Maui placed ninth of 16 teams in Division I with 254 points, and Mililani won the title with 56.
Know an athlete we should feature?
Coaches and athletic directors, we’d love to hear about a Maui, Molokaʻi or Lānaʻi student-athlete who deserves a spotlight. Send us a nomination.