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Lulu Vainuku enjoyed an outstanding freshman season competing in high school track and field, and she’s not done yet.
The 2026 girls 100 meter league champion and North Coast Section Meet of Champions qualifier will be back in action this weekend at the prestigious Nike Outdoor Nationals at Hayward Field in Eugene, home of the Oregon Ducks.
The early-summer meet begins on Thursday and runs for four days.
Vainuku will compete in the 100 meters, a race she excelled in for St. Bernard’s this past spring, as she hit the ground running — literally — in her first season of high school competition.
And she saved her best for the biggest races of the season.
After placing in the top three in the 100m in all four regular-season league meets, including three second-places, the young Crusaders standout recorded her fastest time of the H-DNL season at the league championships in Crescent City in early May.
She was not only the only girl to break 13 seconds at the league meet (12.97 seconds) on her way to victory, but was also the only freshman to place in the top seven.
But the young Vainuku was only getting warmed up.
She would top her best time in the event the following week at the North Coast Section Class A meet in Santa Rosa, setting a new PR and a new St. Bernard’s freshman record with a time of 12.88 seconds.
Her victory in the 100m wasn’t her only win at the league championships.
Vainuku also teamed with Sahara Tupua, Alyssa Boham and Paula Bullock to win a league title in the girls 4x100m relay.
The Crusaders foursome would go to place second in the 4x100m relay at the NCS Class A meet and qualified for the prestigious Meet of Champions, where they closed out the high school season with an 18th place finish going up against the fastest relay teams in the section.
Vainuku also placed fourth in the 200m at the league championships and was the only freshman in the top six.
Her PR in the 200m is 26.78 seconds, which she set at the NCS Class A meet.
She will compete in the 100m at he Nike Outdoor Nationals on Sunday.

Categories: Slider, St. Bernard's, Track and field

















