HANAPEPE — The Waimea High School boys air riflery team captured the Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation title by out-pointing Island School, 1154-1130, Wednesday at the Hanapepe Armory.
“We’ve got our boys sitting until the second relay,” said Waimea Coach Victor Aguilar during the match. “They were here helping to set up the Armory for the shoot and all of that physical activity affects their shooting so they’re calming down while the first relay shoots.”
The rest period must have worked because Menehune shooter John Medeiros posted the day’s high point with a 245 (89-93-63), missing a perfect kneeling position by just seven points, to lead Waimea to its KIF title by a 24-point margin.
Heading into the Thursday match, Island School proved to be the pivotal team, a win by the Voyagers forced a three-way tie for the lead between Island School, Waimea and Kaua‘i.
“We’ve had two practices in the gym in preparation for this match,” said Sean Magoun, the Island School coach. “The boys had to adjust for the indoor range and the practices were good. We brought the extra lamps to help with the shadows. Now, we’ll just have to see who came to shoot.”
Cole Moore (86-79-68-233) and Marcus Punua (91-67-73-231) anchored the Voyagers team, both shooters joining the Menehune men in resting through the first relay.
Daniel Miller, the No. 3 finisher for the Voyagers, was in the eye of Tom Sloger, the Island School assistant coach, while working through the first relay.
“He’s having a nice day,” Sloger said. “He had a very good standing round and should finish strong. We just have to see what happens in the second relay.”
Daniel finished with a 77 in the standing position, the best score of the day, en route to a total 228 (79-72-77) followed by Chad Andrade (83-77-64-224) and Michael Miller (85-72-77-228), Daniel’s brother.
Following Medeiros, Waimea got strong performances from Anthony Dalicon (88-82-66-236), Kristopher Toma (87-82-60-229), Austin Kunishige (86-67-70-223) and Jaron Parongao (87-82-60-229).
Rachel Umetsu returned to the top scorer for the Waimea girls, posting a 240 (95-78-67), getting a 95 in the prone position, the high point of the day in that position. Jackie Taylor, taking the Menehune lead for the past two meets, finished at 230 (94-78-58), dropping to No. 3 by just one point below Kayla Ishida (91-83-57-231). Kimberly Aguilar (88-77-63-228) and Alexys Bermudes (84-82-61-227) rounded out the team scoring of 1156 points.
Franny Kimi (84-54-46-184) and Allison Culliney (81-33-26-140) represented Island School.
Britney Fernand topped the Kaua‘i girls who finished the KIF air riflery season undefeated with a day’s high point 253 (92-86-75) followed by Kristyn Yamamotoya (93-88-70-251), Sara Koide (85-81-74-240), Delissa Nobriga (86-73-79-238) and Marissa Chun (87-82-53-222), shooting at the Kapa‘a High School range.
The Kaua‘i girls soared to a 1204-1108 win over the Kapa‘a girls, despite all five scoring Warriors posting 200-plus scores.
Shyanne Almarza topped the Warrior ladies with a 230 (79-78-73) followed by Kaylyn Armstrong (84-79-64-227), Marissa Goo (79-68-75-222), Kichelle Momohara (81-73-63-217) and Jessica Pasadava (69-76-67-212).
Reyn Morioka topped the Kaua‘i boys with a 240 (83-85-72) in its 1121-1000 win over Kapa‘a.
Morioka was followed by Brandon Chung (89-81-58-228), Micah Chun (89-76-55-220), Brandon Iida (84-74-59-217) and Matthew Kawamura (83-71-62-216).
Kalani Murakami (91-74-65-230) set the pace for the Kapa‘a boys followed by Justin Pasadava (83-80-66-229), Adam Clark (85-68-56-209), Justin Apilado (66-50-52-168) and Baltazar Sajonia (51-59-54-164).
With the KIF titles determined, the Kaua‘i girls and Waimea boys will lead the KIF representation at the Civilican Marksmanship Program Hawai‘i High School Athletic Association air riflery state championships, Oct. 25 at the Blasidell Center Exhibition Hall on O‘ahu.
• Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@ thegardenisland.com.
