Sports

Lady Farmers Paddling 5th in State

Thursday, February 11th, 2016

Lady Farmers Paddling 5th in State

The Molokai Girls Canoe Paddling team placed fifth in the final race of the 2016 state championships on Oahu this past weekend. They placed third in their preliminary race and then won their semifinal heat and advanced to the finals.

Kamehameha School-Kapalama took first with a time of 04:00.23, Punahou was second followed by Seabury in third and Roosevelt fourth. Molokai finished with a time of  04:14.91.

“The girls did great,” said Coach Stefanie Hubbard. “Unlike most other sports, there are no separate divisions. So for our small island school and crew to be racing in the finals and now to be ranked fifth in the entire state is amazing!”…

Lady Farmers MIL Basketball Champs

Thursday, February 11th, 2016

Lady Farmers MIL Basketball Champs

The Molokai Lady Farmers Girls’ Basketball team clinched their fourth straight — and their eighth out of the last nine — Maui Interscholastic League Division II Championship last Friday night in Hana, defeating Seabury 31-29. Senior guard Hepuakea Falealii led the way with 18 points for the Lady Farmers who finished a perfect regular season at 14-0. It was a hard fought nail biter game but the Lady Farmers held on for the win.

“I was so happy and proud of my team, I was speechless,” said Falealii. “Winning the championship has made me feel very accomplished. It also makes me realize that all of our hard work paid off.”…

Ka Molokai Makahiki 2016

Thursday, February 4th, 2016

Ka Molokai Makahiki 2016

Each year, youth and adults from all over Hawaii gather to celebrate Ka Molokai Makahiki in a place where cultural traditions remain strong and friendly athletic competition is celebrated. During Makahiki, the ancient Hawaiian four-month season of peace, war was kapu, or forbidden, and every district gathered to appreciate the harvest and challenge each other’s athletic prowess.The historic tradition has been revived for more than 30 years on Molokai.

Cultural events began Thursday, with an evening lecture about Kaho`olawe, where the Makahiki season begins each year. Adult games kicked off Friday night, and student competitions followed on Saturday, with a ho`olaulea afterward.…

Swimmer MIL Champ, Girls Basketball Undefeated

Thursday, February 4th, 2016

Swimmer MIL Champ, Girls Basketball Undefeated

Swimming

Molokai swimmer Keao Ross won last weekend’s Maui Interscholastic Championship in the 50 freestyle. Represented by just four athletes, the Molokai boys team garnered enough points to place third overall, making the team one of the strongest in the last decade, according to Coach Jess Ford. Ross will be the first qualified individual to swim at the state meet representing under Ford.
“The swim team took it up a notch this year and delivered a beautiful performance at the MIL Championships,” said Ford. “It We had many swimmers with breakout performances with some huge time drops in many cases. The boys team did excellent with only four swimmers…They had two third-place relay finishes on the boy’s side as well as our first MIL champion, Keao Ross.”…

Farmer Athletes Honored at Pro Bowl

Thursday, February 4th, 2016

Farmer Athletes Honored at Pro Bowl

Athletes and coaches from the MIL Champion Molokai Farmers eight-man football team were honored at half time of the Pro Bowl last Sunday. Because Molokai graduate Kimo von Olehoffen won the Super Bowl with the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Farmers are one of a handful of teams in the state that received a special commemorative football at half time of the All-Star game at Aloha Stadium.
Von Olehoffen did not play football at Molokai High School because there was no team when he graduated in 1989 but he played collegiately at Boise State and then in the pros for the Steelers, Cincinnati Bengals, New York Jets and the Philadelphia Eagles from 1994 to 2007.…

Farmers Host Wrestling Tournament

Thursday, January 28th, 2016

Farmers Host Wrestling Tournament

Head Coach Randy Manley said it best: “It’s always nice to be able to sleep in your own bed and not sleep on a wrestling mat in somebody else’s gym… but you also worry that they’ll be nervous wrestling in front of their family and friends and we just hope they shine in front of their home fans. And they did.”

The Molokai High School Wrestling team hosted a round robin tournament here on Molokai at The Barn last weekend. Five schools from the Maui Interscholastic League — Baldwin, Maui High, Lahainaluna, Kamehameha Maui, King Kekaulike and Molokai — competed on Friday evening and Saturday in front of a very supportive home crowd.…

Farmers Come Out Strong Off-Island

Thursday, January 28th, 2016

Boys and Girls Basketball

The Lady Farmers picked up two more wins on their road trip to Seabury last weekend and they clinched the regular season championship with their Friday night victory 45-13.  They won on Saturday 54-29 and are now 10-0 on the season. The last home games of the season will be this weekend at The Barn against Lanai and Head Coach Lee Derouin is looking forward to Senior night for the Girls on Friday.

“The girls really took care of business in both games at Seabury and played with great intensity at both ends of the floor,” he said.…

Weekend Wins for Farmers

Friday, January 22nd, 2016

It was a weekend of success for the Farmers, with both the Boys and Girls Basketball teams picking up victories, the Girls Paddling crew finishing second and several state-qualifying times for the Swim team.

Swimming Head Coach Jess Ford said both the girls and boys 200 medley relay teams will be headed to states after a good showing last weekend on Maui.

“It was stunning and a relief to achieve back-to-back state qualifying times in the first two races of our first meet this season,” she said. Keao Ross also won both his races in 50 yard freestyle and 100 yard fly, swimming another state qualifying time in the 50 free.…

Little League Throws First Pitch

Friday, November 13th, 2015

The Molokai Little League had their opening ceremonies last Saturday for their T-ball and coach pitch leagues. Games will be played during the week at 4 p.m. and on Saturdays at 8, 9:30 and 11 a.m. until mid-December.

There are eight teams this year: the Ho’olehua Cubs, Kaunakakai Giants and Kaunakakai Angels have both T-ball and coach pitch teams. The Maunaloa Tigers and Kaunakakai Mets only have only T-ball teams. The League president is Pinky Gaspar and vice president is Briann Starkey.

Photos by Rick Schonely.…

Farmers Become First-Time Football Champs

Wednesday, November 4th, 2015

Farmers Become First-Time Football Champs

Running through the tunnel at war Memorial Stadium in Kahului, Maui, is a young football player’s dream. Running through that tunnel and then winning in the championship game against an archrival is a Molokai football player’s dream come true.

On a beautiful Saturday afternoon on the big stage, the Molokai Farmers football team won their first eight-man Maui Interscholastic League (MIL) championship by defeating Seabury Hall 55-16.

“We came out and scored on our first two possessions, then we lost our way a little bit at the end of the first quarter,” said Head Coach Mike Kahale. “But in the second quarter we played better and it’s how you respond to adversity.…