Sports

New Swimmers Debut in Meet

Wednesday, January 28th, 2015

In back-to-back MIL swim meets last weekend, the girls’ team finished sixth. Oceana Madani had fifth place finishes in both the 200-meter individual medley (three minutes, 1.82 seconds) and the 100-meter butterfly (1:22.38). On Saturday, Michelle McGuire and Genevieve Kikukawa also took fifth in their categories, McGuire in the 100-meter breaststroke (1:24.89) and Kikukawa in the 100-meter backstroke (1:16.79).

As a team, the girls improved their time in the 200-meter medley relay. After finishing sixth in the event on Jan. 17, the team finished third on Friday (2:14.03), a five-second improvement from the previous meet.

“Every meet is an improvement, especially when they’re close together,” said Head Coach Jess Ford.…

Boys Basketball Maintains Winning Record

Wednesday, January 28th, 2015

By Rick Schonely, Community Reporter

On Senior Night at The Barn last Friday, the St. Anthony Trojans defeated the Molokai Farmers boys basketball, 66-58. The Trojans were led by Michael Fernandez with 23 points. Kekaha Souza added 14 points, and Colby Tam had 13. The Farmers were led by Kaimana Kahale and Moses Espaniola, who had 11 points each. Thomas Tamanaha, Tanielu Aikala-Falealii, Kyson Castor-Wallace and Edel-Marc Alvarez each had seven points.

“We made a lot of mistakes, had some missed assignments and missed a lot of easy baskets, but as a whole I commend them for sticking it out,” said Head Coach Carl Adolpho.…

Farmers Outstanding in their Fields

Wednesday, January 21st, 2015

Molokai High teams made a strong showing against league opponents over the weekend, bringing home wins on the water, the court and the mat.

Wrestling

Molokai’s wrestling team is short on funds but not on talent. On Saturday the Farmers left their first MIL meet of the season with six titles, the most of any team. Lahainaluna had the second best performance with five titles.

“I think we as a team didn’t really expect to do as well as we did,” said Kuikamoku Han, who won the boys’ 285-pound title for Molokai. “We have a lot of new people that are not familiar with the sport.…

Undefeated Start for Girls’ Basketball

Wednesday, January 14th, 2015

Defending league champion Molokai hasn’t lost any of last season’s momentum. Almost halfway through the season, the Lady Farmers’ basketball team is 6-0 and sits atop the Maui Interscholastic League (MIL) Division II standings.

Molokai defeated second-place Lanai (3-3) twice last weekend at The Barn, squeaking past the Pine Lasses 48-45 on Friday and pounding out a 54-22 win on Saturday.

Lanai led at the end of the third quarter on Friday, but the Farmers wrapped up the win with a couple of free throws by Precious Rawlins with barely a second to go. Rawlins scored nine, while Lehiwa Pedro and Rebecka Adolpho had 12 points apiece.…

Molokai Boy Chosen for Samoa Bowl

Thursday, January 8th, 2015

Thanks to his athletic talents, his heritage and more than 170 chicken katsu plates, local boy Ha`aloha Tanielu Aikala-Falealii became the first Farmer to represent Molokai football in American Samoa. Aikala-Falealii, a senior at Molokai High School, was selected to play for Team Hawaii in the Samoa Bowl, an annual game that pits Hawaii’s best Samoan football players against American Samoa’s all-stars. In the Samoa Bowl XII on Dec. 27, Team American Samoa won, 12-6.

Part Hawaiian and part Samoan, Aikala-Falealii was able to honor both of his cultures in the Bowl, said his father, Sepulona Aikala-Falealii. Sepulona, a police officer, grew up in American Samoa, a U.S.…

Winter Sports Preview, Part 2

Thursday, December 18th, 2014

Although the weather is turning colder, the Molokai winter sport athletes are just getting warmed up. With the Maui Interscholastic League (MIL) winter season approaching, Molokai High’s teams are training to compete in basketball, paddling, swimming and wrestling. In the second of a two-part series, the Dispatch takes a look at these teams as they prepare to make their mark in the MIL.

Boys’ and Girls’ Basketball

The spotlight will be on Molokai basketball within the league this season. In February, the school will host the MIL Division II boys’ basketball tournament. Meanwhile, the girls will seek their third league title in a row and a place at the state championships.…

Winter Sports Preview, Part 1

Wednesday, December 10th, 2014

Although the weather is turning colder, the Molokai winter sport athletes are just getting warmed up. With the Maui Interscholastic League (MIL) winter season approaching, Molokai High’s teams are training to compete in basketball, paddling, swimming and wrestling. In a two-part series, the Dispatch takes a look at these teams as they prepare to make their mark in the MIL.

Wrestling

This season, the boys’ and girls’ teams have 19 wrestlers apiece. The girls’ roster is rife with experience, with 11 returning wrestlers, while the boys’ team welcomes a relatively young squad that includes seven returning wrestlers and six freshmen.

“The number of returning girls makes us strong ‘cause we’ve got some experience to work with,” said Coach Randy Manley, who added that this year’s squad is the biggest girls’ team he’s ever seen from the school.…

Molokai Football Finishes Second in League

Wednesday, November 12th, 2014

In the Maui Interscholastic League (MIL)’s inaugural eight-player football championship, the Farmers brought it all: pinpoint passing, a lethal running game, a hard-charging defense. In the end, however, the Spartans’ record stayed perfect, as Seabury beat Molokai 44-34 to be crowned MIL champions last Thursday. The Farmers took second place.

“I couldn’t have asked for better effort,” said Molokai head coach Mike Kahale. “How can I be disappointed? I’m disappointed in the score but not disappointed in them as a team. … I couldn’t be more proud of the effort that they gave.”

The game was broadcast live on Maui’s ESPN radio channel, which Coach Kahale said was the first time that a Molokai football game was featured on the air.…