Hawaii Prep announces Spring Sports Awards

Shane Brostek

Spring Sports Awards at HAWAII PREP

BOYS TRACK AND FIELD   Most valuable athlete: Shane Brostek

Coach’s award: Christian Lee   Most improved: George Twigg-Smith

GIRLS TRACK AND FIELD   Most valuable player: Lana Queen, Zoe Sims

Coach’s award: Jasmine Fojas     Most improved: Pamela Lynn

BOYS TENNIS

Most valuable player: Won Joon Kim    Most improved: Santa Chirathivat

GIRLS TENNIS    Most valuable player: Erin Wakefield-McDonald

Coach’s award: Abbie Wolfenberger    Most improved: Alina Katase

BOYS VOLLEYBALL

Most valuable player: Keanu Yamamoto    Coach’s award: Jevin Ching

Most improved: Kainoa Tanoai    Nolan Doliente Award: Nick Chock

WATER POLO    Most valuable player: Angel Wu

Coach’s award: Madi DiZunno, Alohi Nakachi    Most improved: Seychelle Francis

GOLF    Most valuable player: Andrew Paisley

Coach’s award: Jake Siebert     Most improved: Justin Macy

BASEBALL    Most valuable players: Jayse Bannister, Matthew Kiyota

Coach’s award: Dean Macy, Mitchell Parris   Most improved: Micah Ashburn

SOFTBALL    Most valuable player: Stacie Doi, Nani Lum

Coach’s award: Gabby Menendez      Most improved: Alex Disney

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Hilo’s Shina Chung wins third BIIF pole vault title

Shina Chung

KEAAU – Over three hundred athletes were vying for a spot at the Big Island Interscholastic Federation Championships on Friday as two events have come to conclusion.

Hilo’s Shina Chung and Waiakea’s Travis Winters were reaching into the afternoon sky at Kamehameha’s Pai’ea Stadium as the girl’s pole vault and boy’s high jump were having their finals.

Chung, one of the best in the state at girl’s pole vault, won her third consecutive leagues crown by clearing 9-06, not her best, but good enough to bring her a BIIF individual championship title.

“I came in at 9 feet and there were no other girls in the competition at that point,” Chung said.  “Nine feet is the starting height for the state championships and my coach (Sherman Viernes) wants me to be ready.

When Chung came in for her first jump all her competitors had already been eliminated as her closet rival Hawaii Preparatory Academy’s Sydney Budde, cleared 8 feet and went out at 8-06.

“I was nervous because I came in with ‘No Height’ and everyone was done,” Chung said.

But the Viking vaulter had little trouble at 9 feet, clearing the bar on her first attempt, and then later going over 9-06 on her second attempt.

“My goal was to repeat as the pole vault champ,” she said.  “Now I’m hoping to improve on my fifth place finish at states last year.”

Travis Winters

Winters had lots of competition in the high jump as he and three others were able to clear the bar at 5-10 but Winters was declared the BIIF champ as he managed to do it on his first jump.

“I came in at 5-04 and worked my way up,” Winters said.  “This was the second time I cleared 5-10 in the past two weeks, but this is my first BIIF title.”

Also clearing 5-10 was HPA’s George Twigg-Smith and Kyle Katase, along with Keaau’s Joseph Aquino, Jr.

“I only started practice high jump four meets ago,” Winters said.  “My first time at high jump practice I cleared 5-06 and my coach said that this was an event I could excel in.”

Kaenen Akau

On the infield it was Kamehameha’s Kaenan Aukai Akua setting a new standard in the long jump with his leap of 22-09 to rank him number one in the state.

“I was looking at the other state leader and I knew I need to hit 22 feet to catch him,” Akua the two time BIIF long jump champ said.  “I was looking for a good jump and I had the speed and take off in the air.”

Akua’s leap separated himself by nine inches from the previous state leader and the junior Warrior believes it can still get better.

“I need to keep my feet out front as far as I can and I need to keep my butt off the sand,” Akua said.

Not to be outdone Konawaena’s Lia Galdeira leaped 17-10 to make her the number one contender in the BIIF going into the championships and #2 in the state.

Galdeira’s fantastic jump came moments after the gifted junior false started the 100 meter hurdles to eliminate herself from one of her premiere events.

“I was upset with the DQ,” Galdeira said. 

The disqualification is the hurdles proved to be the driving force behind Galdeira’s impressive long jump as that distance carries over into the finals.

Galdeira believes that she is capable of going over 18 feet within the next week to set her up for a possible gold medal at the state championships.

Wildcat teammate Ua Ruedy was producing eye popping results during the Qualifiers in the 100 and 200 dashes, 100 and 300 hurdles, and the long and triple jump to give her six individual events going into the finals.

Ruedy is considered by many to have the best chance to score the most points during the championship finals which would qualify her to be named female track athlete of the year.

Defending girls team champions, HPA, is considered the top contender for repeating as team champs but coach Pat Lau is taking nothing for granted.

“Anything can happen,” Lau said.  “One mistake can change the outcome.  Everything leading up to the championships has been a rehearsal and hopefully everything will fall into place.”

Since 2007 Lau’s Ka Makani girls teams have never finished lower than second.

“It’s not just about the athletes,” Lau said.  “Our coaches spend a lot of time with the kids and make a big difference in the outcome.”

Kamehameha is the defending boy’s team champion and Warrior Coach Kimo Weaver believes that any school can win it all.

“There is no clear favorite for the boy’s team title,” Weaver said.  “There are four teams in the hunt, including us, and anything can happen.

The BIIF championship begins with field events starting at 3pm and running events at 4 at Kamehameha’s Pai’ea Stadium on Saturday.  Admission charges are $3 for adults, $2 for seniors and $1 for students with activity cards.

Garson-Shumway and Sims battling for 1500 surpremacy

 

1500 battle between freshman and sophomore

WAIMEA – Hilo freshman, Carmen Garson-Shumway didn’t win a race this past Saturday at the Stanford W. Shutes track at Hawaii Preparatory Academy, but came away as an emerging star in Big Island Interscholastic Federation track and field.

Garson-Shumway ran in the 800 and 1500 meter races against the league’s top athlete, HPA’s Zoe Sims as both girls ran to personal records.

During the 1500 meter race Garson-Shumway clung to Sims, remaining a stride behind, before pulling up to her shoulder at the start of the final lap.

“I was trying to stay with her and that helped me to run my fastest race of my life,” Garson-Shumway said of her 5:04.87 time which gives her an automatic berth at the Hawaii High School Athletic Association championships.

Sims also ran a personal best time, clocking in at 5:01.28 and positioning herself as one of the top five girls in the state at that distance.

“It’s great to have someone push me and I credit Carmen for my personal record time,” Sims said.

Sims had goal split times going into the race that was set by her coach prior to the event and was hoping to break 5:08.

“Carmen helped me stay on pace and I surpassed my goal with her help,” Sims said.  “As a distance runner there is a real comradraire amongst us as we warm up together and I’m glad we were able to push each other.”

In the 800 meter run it was the Sims and Garson-Shumway show once again, but with a different strategy.

Garson-Shumway took the early lead on the two lap race and Sims had to come from behind to capture the victory.

“I’ve never beaten Zoe, but I pulled out early in the 800 and just ran my hardest,” Garson-Shumway said.  “She pushed me to another personal best time as I’m just trying to run faster in each race and hopefully peak at the right time.”

Also producing great results for the Ka Makani was senior Lana Queen who competed in the maximum six events.

Queen came away with two second place finishes in the 100 and 300 hurdles, third in the triple jump, sixth in the long jump and helped her relay team to a first place 4×400 and second in the 4×100.

“The 100 hurdles is probably my favorite race as its more about strategy then it is about physical talent,” Queen said.  “I really wanted to do well today as I just turned 18 and I am finally an adult.”

Konawaena’s basketball star, Emalia Galdeira, was tearing up the track and winning just about everything she entered. Galdeira won the 100 and 200 dash, along with the 100 hurdles, but turned many heads when she leaped 17-05.25 in the long jump.

“I never thought I could hit 17 feet in the long jump,” Galdeira said.  “I’m new at this event and haven’t practiced it much, but I do know that it requires speed and the ability to jump high.”

Galdeira’s long jump ranks her as one of the top competitors in the state and this may not be the end of this multi talented athlete.

“I now think it’s possible for me to go beyond 18 feet,” a confident Galdeira said.

On the far end of the field it was Hilo pole vaulter, Shina Chung, waiting patiently in her purple shoes for the bar to be raised to the state qualifying height of 9 feet.

The Viking junior needed to wait until the other 8 girls in the competition were gone before she could enter the competition.

“I need to practice with a starting height of 9 feet because that’s where they’ll start at states,” Chung said.

Chung was using a new 135 pound purple pole that was borrowed from St. Anthony on Maui.

“When we competed on Maui their coach offered to loan me the pole as purple is my favorite color,” she said.

Chung went on to clear 10 feet before dropping out at 10-06.

“I tried clearing 10-06 today, but I didn’t finish as I couldn’t follow through with my technique,” Chung said.  “I was really sloppy.”

Kamehameha’s Everett McKee won the 110 hurdles, then false started in the 300 hurdles which made the Warrior senior more determined than ever.

“My false start pushed me to do my personal best in the triple jump,” McKee said.  “My previous best jump was 39-07, but I was determined after being disqualified in the hurdles.”

McKee recorded a 41-04.50, good enough for third place, behind Kau winner Alika Kaopua and second place Johnny Chow of Keaau.

HPA’s George Twigg-Smith has accomplished what no other BIIF high jumper has done this season, to clear an automatic state qualifying jump.

Twigg-Smith has never gone above 5-10 in his previous years of competition, but decided, on his home field to clear 6 feet for the first time in his young life.

“I’ve been trying for the last two years to reach a state qualifying height,” Twigg-Smith said.  “It makes it better to do it towards the end of the season as I’m now hoping to go higher.”

Twigg-Smith, a senior who also competes in the long and triple jumps, credits his success to having a new track facility to work on.

“This new track allows me to finally get to practice properly,” he said.  “I don’t believe that I’ve peaked yet and I think I can go higher.  It’s all about fundamentals and bringing up the knees and arching.”

Home track and field advantage went to the Ka Makani as their boys and girls swept the team scoring titles.

HPA girls have been at the top of team scoring throughout the season, but their boys have remained dormant, not winning a scoring meet all season until Saturday.

The BIIF season comes to conclusion with the league qualifiers on Friday, followed by the championships on Saturday at Kamehameha.

Related links:  https://waynejoseph.wordpress.com/2011/04/24/pole-vault-results-from-hpa-has-chung-seeing-purple/

https://waynejoseph.wordpress.com/2011/04/24/800-meter-results-from-stan-shutes-track-at-hpa/

https://waynejoseph.wordpress.com/2011/04/23/100-meter-dash-results-from-hawaii-prep/

https://waynejoseph.wordpress.com/2011/04/23/keaaus-estrada-hpas-twigg-smith-win-high-jump/

Keaau’s Estrada, HPA’s Twigg-Smith win High Jump

Twigg-Smith

Estrada misses at 5 feet

Keaau’s Randi Estrada and HPA’s George Twigg-Smith were the winners of the high jump this past Saturday at Hawaii Prep in Waimea.

 

Estrada just missed an automatic qualifying berth while Twigg-Smith hit a personal best height, clearing 6 feet to make it to the Big Dance.

 

BIIF action concludes this weekend with the individual and team championships at Kamehameha.

 

 

 

 

 

Girls High Jump BIIFQualify: B  4-02     HHSAA Auto: A  5-00        HHSAA Cons: C  4-10                                                         
  1 Randi Estrada             JR Keaau                  4-10.00C  10  
  2 Kaila Voss                JR Kealakehe              4-08.00B   8  
  3 Catherine Thorbecke       JR Hawaii Prep            4-06.00B   6  
  4 Lyndsey Neubecker         JR Kealakehe              4-04.00B   4  
  5 Kelsi Nishina             SR Hawaii Prep            4-04.00B   2  
  6 Rachael Bianchi           JR Kealakehe              4-02.00B   0.50
  6 Bianca Geissler           SR Hawaii Prep         4-02.00B   0.50

Boys High Jump BIIFQualify: B  5-02            HHSAA Auto: A  6-00    HHSAA Cons: C  5-08                                                          
  1 George Twigg-Smith        SR Hawaii Prep           6-00.00A  10  
  2 Travis Winters            JR Waiakea               5-08.00C   8  
  3 Kyle Katase               SR Hawaii Prep           5-06.00B   6  
  4 Rokas Cesnulevicius       SR Hawaii Prep          J5-06.00B   4  
  5 Alexander Engdahl         JR Keaau                J5-06.00B   2  
  6 Micah Kaaihue             FR Kamehameha HI        5-04.00B   0.50
  6 Joseph Aquino Jr          JR Keaau                5-04.00B   0.50