PO‘IPU — Kapa‘a and Kaua‘i high schools each chipped out five berths, and Waimea High School and Island School finished with three berths each, after island qualifying Thursday for the Hawai‘i High School Athletic Association 2009 Carlsmith Ball Boys and
PO‘IPU — Kapa‘a and Kaua‘i high schools each chipped out five berths, and Waimea High School and Island School finished with three berths each, after island qualifying Thursday for the Hawai‘i High School Athletic Association 2009 Carlsmith Ball Boys and Girls Tennis Championships.
The Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation schools earned the qualifications at the 2009 KIF qualifying tournament Thursday at Po‘ipu Kai Tennis Center under threatening skies and an islandwide flood advisory.
The tournament finals are today, though all the state-championship slots were decided yesterday.
The players worked through the weather threat and completed play through the semifinals of all divisions, each of the semifinalists earning state berths, said Greg Gonsalves, athletic director at Kapa‘a High School and the tournament director.
Kapa‘a and Kaua‘i each picked up three berths in the girls division and two in the boys division. Waimea and Island School finished with each getting two berths in the boys division and one berth in the girls division.
Kapa‘a’s state-eligible players include Chas Okamoto, top seed in the boys singles; Dustin Valdez, third seed in the boys singles; Lyndsey Tom, top seed in the girls singles; Kirsten McCracken, fourth seed in the girls singles; and the third-seeded girls doubles team of Cherine Ito and Makena McCluskey.
Kaua‘i’s entries include the fourth-seeded girls doubles team of Jennifer Grady and Jasmine Ikeda; fourth-seeded boys singles Lanning Henriques; and second- and third-seed girls singles, Sarah Kukino and Shay Orial, respectively. Matthew Kanna and Chris Flynn make up the third-seeded boys doubles team.
Waimea’s entries include the undefeated, top-seeded girls doubles team of Tiffany Lum and Jade Cano; and the first and fourth seeds of the boys doubles teams. Harold Shimono Jr., normally a singles player, teamed with Darrell Nonaka, another singles player, for the top seed in boys doubles. Michael Haack and Joshua Ponting make up the fourth-seed boys doubles team.
Second-seed boys singles Sam Dunham, playing Okamoto for the title, leads the Island School entries. Logan Domingo and Jeremy Randolph-Flagg make up the second-seeded boys doubles team, and Juli Blachowiak and Madison Duarte form the second-seeded girls doubles team.
The tournament will conclude today (Friday) with finals settled in both the boys and girls singles divisions. Semifinals will be played from 8 a.m. for both the boys and girls doubles divisions, followed by the finals.
Tom and Okamoto, both undefeated in regular-season play, will be squaring off against Kukino and Dunham, respectively, for the titles in the girls and boys singles.
The Kaua‘i girls doubles team of Grady and Ikeda will face off against Blachowiak and M. Duarte for the right to advance to the finals against the Waimea team of Lum and Cano, who defeated the Kapa‘a team of Ito and McCluskey Thursday.
In the boys doubles, it will be Waimea vs. Waimea, as Shimono and Nonaka will take on Haack and Ponting in the semifinals, the winning team advancing to face the winner of the Kanna/Flynn and Domingo/Randolph-Flagg matchup in the finals.
The state tournament will be played May 6-9 at the Patsy T. Mink Central O‘ahu Regional Park Tennis Complex.
Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@kauaipubco.com
