WAIMEA – For the second week in a row, Kealakehe junior Cozette Wood came out on top.

At the second BIIF cross country meet of the season, however, Wood’s victory didn’t come without a bit of controversy. Though Wood was initially second to cross the finish line at Hawaii Prep, the original first-place finisher – Kekaihulali Halpern of Hilo – was ultimately disqualified.

On HPA’s hilly 5K course, Wood finished in 23 minutes, 25 seconds: 55 seconds ahead of second-place finisher Caroline Betlach of HPA. Shanay Ha’a of Waiakea took third in 24:40, followed by HPA’s Wynte Radey-Morgan in 24:45. HPA’s girls edged Waiakea for team first place with 29 points to the Warriors’ 45. Ka Makani had three more top-10 finishers: Lily Kassis in sixth (25:48), Mahea Puckett in seventh (25:58) and Jordan Perry in 10th (26:11).

Kamehameha was third with 96; Sophia Wilson was their top finisher in ninth with a time of 26:06.

On the boys side, Kealakehe’s Aiden Ankrum and Cameron Cornforth challenged for the lead early on, but Waiakea senior Kederang Ueda was able to pull away from the pack to secure the win in 19 minutes, 20 seconds.

“Going up the second hill, one of the guys told me that the Kealakehe guys were catching up to me,” said Ueda. “I realized I could take the race after that last stretch up there, because I figured they’re be tired after that last hill.”

Ankrum took second in 19:59, followed by Waiakea’s Austin Mohica in third at 20:11 and Cornforth in 20:20.

As a team, Waiakea narrowly bested Hawaii Prep, 26 to 29. Kiyoshi Todd (21:20) and Kyle Ignacio (22:18) were the next two finishers for the Warriors in eighth and 12th place, respectively. HPA’s top four finishers were Parker Smith in fifth (20:25), Lucas Duba in seventh (21:06), Zane Vannatta in ninth (21:21) and Luca Kasumovich in 10th (21:44).