LIHU‘E — There will be a shootoff on Thursday at Island School starting at 3 p.m.
At stake will be the title for the Boys division in the Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation Air Riflery competition.
Ross Shimabukuro, athletic director for Kaua‘i High School, said there will be six spots each for the boys and girls at the state competition. Of those slots, five will be for the winning team with one open slot.
Waimea High School girls won that division at last week’s competition, and following Thursday’s match, the Kaua‘i and Waimea teams swept their respective matches to force the shootoff.
Kaua‘i boys returned their full compliment of shooters to take Island School, 1125-1037 while Waimea boys took an 1108-896 win over Kapa‘a at the Kaua‘i High School facility.
In the girls matches, Waimea posted a 1054-891 win over Kapa‘a while Kaua‘i finished with a 1060-640 showing over Island School’s four individuals at the Island School range.
“We’re just working toward next year,” said Ian Verasammy, the Kapa‘a coach. “A lot of our shooters are new, and I am new to the program, coming in during the first month of the season. But the kids have shown a lot of improvement.”
Verasammy said when he started the teams were shooting in the 500-point range. During the course of the season, they improved to the 900-1000-point range, putting them in contention.
Outside of the shooters, Verasammy said they’ll be doing additional work on the Kapa‘a shooting range to improve on what is there.
“The Kapa‘a range is really good,” said Kaua‘i shooter Tyler Navarro, finishing Thursday’s competition with a 248 (90-89-69), the best score for the boys in the day. “What makes that range good is the sun is at your back and the wind comes at you head-on. It’s easier to adjust (your sighting) up and down than to have to adjust left-to-right.”
Kaua‘i boys were led by Tyler Navarro, Shaun Koide (86-86-71-243), Reyn Morioka (76-82-63-221), Gavin Marcelino (78-80-50-208) and Walter Castillo (70-71-64-205).
Logan Domingo, usually the Island School No. 2 shooter, jumped to the top spot on a 242 (87-83-72), outpointing J. Riley Louis in all phases. Louis finished at 220 (79-79-62) followed by Steven Baptiste (83-53-51-187), Travis Kim (86-41-53-180) and Ben Steuri (68-57-52-177).
John Medeiros (82-73-34) and Wesley Sakamoto (86-72-70) paced the Menehune with 228 points each. The pair was followed by Marius Foudila (95-74-64-233), Bryle Rivera (80-70-62-212) and Austin Kunishige (82-66059-207).
“This is the final match of the season so I’m giving a lot of our second shooters a chance to shoot (in competition),” said Victor Aguilar, coach for the Waimea team. “We just need to win for the shootout.”
Adam Clark topped the Kapa‘a boys on a 209 (81-73-55) followed by Thomas Woods (79-70-37-186), Marvin Woods (79-56-41-176), Anthony Aiwohi (64-48-53-165) and Robert Baker (39-50-71-160).
Kendra Ishida took the lead for the Menehune girls with a 220 (84-76-60) followed by Dylan Tabalan (88-76-49-213), Kimberly Aguilar (80-78-50-208), Sherry Ann Singson (84-64-59-207) and Jackie Taylor (73-72-61-206).
Lana Bilbo topped the Kapa‘a girls at 194 (71-63-60) followed by Mary Walker (67-69-42-178), Alison Yamamoto (74-59-45-178), Jessica Pasadava (55-72-46-173) and Kristina Ragusant (64-61-43-168).
Brianne Hornos led the Kaua‘i girls at 240 (90-75-75) followed by Meghan Fujimoto (86-69-64-219), Taylor Ludington (83-76-59-218), Britney Fernandez (75-70-49-194) and Kristyn Yamamotoya (81-58-50-189).
Stephanie Steuri roared back from a two-match absence with a strong 222 (80-76-66) to lead the Island School girls. She was followed by Pii Kali (83-64-63-210) and Lindsey Duarte (82-66-60-208).
