HILO — It was third time’s the charm for Hawaii Prep’s Micah McDowell and Waiakea’s Shannon Eckert at Saturday’s BIIF cross country meet at Waiakea High.

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HILO — It was third time’s the charm for Hawaii Prep’s Micah McDowell and Waiakea’s Shannon Eckert at Saturday’s BIIF cross country meet at Waiakea High.

After finishing in the top three in their respective divisions at the previous two meets, both runners won their 5K race in the overcast, wet morning — helping their schools win the team contest.

The meets are decided by point totals — the higher a runner finishes, the lower score they receive.

McDowell beat fellow teammate Chihiro Sato by just over six seconds, posting the fastest overall time of the day in just over 17 minutes, 32 seconds. Although it wasn’t McDowell’s fastest time this season, it was enough to finish at the top of the podium.

Eckert won in more dominant fashion, beating Parker’s Bella Anthony by nearly a minute in just over 21 minutes, 18 seconds. It was Eckert’s second-fastest time of 2026.

In the boys contest, including McDowell, HPA had four runners place in the top 10: McDowell (17:32.05), Sato (17:38.10), Finn McMahan (18:19.90) and Wyatt Schumacher (18:37.57). Finishing the day with 30 total points, Ka Makani has won all three meets in the boys division this season, remaining the standard for boys cross country on the Big Island.

Kealakehe finished second in the boys for the second time this season, tallying 83 points. The Waveriders were led by Liko Leatherman, who placed third with a season-best time of 18:12.82. Teammate Carson Wilt placed ninth with a time of just over 18 minutes, 53 seconds.

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Kamehameha-Hawaii earned bronze in the boys division with 98 points. Brayden Tamura was the lone Warrior who finished in the top 10, placing fourth overall in just over 18 minutes, 17 seconds. Teammate Naeem Gleason finished in 11th.

In the girls contest, Eckert had three other teammates place in the top 10 to help Waiakea propel to the top of the team podium for the first time this season — Taliah Nelson in sixth (23:39.63), Jules Kow in seventh (20:40.63) and Camila Megargel in ninth (23:59.01).

The hosting   Warriors finished the day with 39 points. The previous two meets were dominated by Kealakehe, but the Waveriders had several key runners out of Saturday’s race.

Finishing second in the girls team race was HPA with 41 points. Ka Makani had three racers place in the top 10, led by Tea Kasumovich finishing fourth (23:05.01). Teammate Savannah Hulugalle finished right behind her in fifth in nearly 23 minutes, nine seconds. Rosey Wawner additionally placed eighth, crossing the finish line at the 23:46.48 mark.

The Hilo Vikings placed third overall among the girls, led by Bailey Uyeshiro’s third-place finish in just over 22 minutes, 22 seconds. Teammate Sky Bardwell-Jones placed 10th with a time of 24:13.34.

To see more results from Saturday’s meet, see today’s Scoreboard.

The 2026 BIIF cross country season continues this upcoming Saturday, where runners will convene in North Hawaii to race at Waikii Ranch.

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