In an early preview of this year's state cross country championship, Island School's Pierce Murphy won Saturday's Iolani Invitational at Kualoa Ranch.

The senior from the tiny Kauai private school won the boys 3-mile race in 15 minutes, 25.92 seconds. Leilehua's Margarito Martinez finished second (15:51.00) and Kamehameha's Jordan Thibodeau was third (16:30.33). Martinez won last year's state championship hosted at Island School. Murphy finished second at the state meet and Thibodeau was third, helping Kamehameha win the state team title.

Palos Verdes (Calif.) runners placed fourth through seventh to win the Iolani Invitational with a meet-low 28 points. Iolani was second with 86 and Kamehameha was third with 96.

In the girls race, freshman Dakota Grossman of Maui's Seabury Hall finished second in 19:23.47. Palos Verdes' Erica Capellino won the 3-mile race in 19:14.08. Grossman has had a stellar debut in her high school running career. She won the first two meets of the season on Maui and captured last week's Kamehameha-Hawaii Invitational on the Big Island.

Punahou's Kyleigh Mann was fifth in 20:04.53 and teammate and defending state champion Elli Brady was sixth in 20:06.45. Brady won last year's state title as a freshman.

Dana Hills (Calif.) placed five runners in the top 15 to win the meet with 41 points. Defending state champion Punahou was second with 74 and Palos Verdes was third with 85.

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