Sports

David Rapanot on the Road to His Dreams

Wednesday, April 22nd, 2015

Molokai High School 2014 graduate David Rapanot is in his first year of college at Feather River College in California. As a freshman, he is the starting shortstop for the Golden Eagles and is having a fantastic season while doing a great job stepping up to the next level.  Born and raised on Molokai by parents Scott and Kim Rapanot, he has played baseball since he could walk with the guidance of his father as his coach. He is now making his family and all of Molokai proud.

Feather River College is located in Quincy, Calif., a little town north of Sacramento across the border from Reno, Nev.…

Volleyball Celebrates Lone Senior

Wednesday, April 15th, 2015

The Molokai boys’ volleyball team hosted Seabury Hall this past weekend, and after a 3-1 loss on Friday night (25-13, 19-25, 25-21 and 25-22) the Farmers played a thrilling five-set match Saturday, but again lost to Seabury 3-2 (23-25, 21-25, 25-17, 25-15 and 15-11). Molokai is now 3-6 on the season. Seabury is 4-4.

On Saturday the Farmers took the first two games, but Seabury fought back and took the next three sets in a row to win the match.

Friday night was also Senior Night for Tanielu Falealii, the team’s only senior.

Coach Hale Domingo praised Falealii for his spirit and hard work.…

Molokai at NSSA Championships

Friday, April 10th, 2015

Community Contributed

By Clare Seeger Mawae

Alex Mawae recently competed at the regional event of the National Scholastic Surfing Association (NSSA) surfing competition in the Stand Up Paddle (SUP) Division at Kewalo’s, Oahu on March 16 and placed third in his division. This was an awesome experience for young Alex as he got a chance to see the incredible talent of the future Hawaii surfing generation. SUP has recently been added into the NSSA and slowly growing with the young competitors.

Twelve-year-old Alex’s strengths lie in long distance paddling when he first came on the Stand Up Paddling scene at 9 years competing in the Molokai Holokai and then onto the famous Maliko run on Maui’s north shore.…

Track Team Off to a Running Start

Wednesday, April 1st, 2015

Molokai’s track and field season debut featured a win and several top 10 finishes, results that pleasantly surprised Head Coach Jessie Ford.

Alex Simon earned first place the 300 meter hurdles. With Simon recently coming off her wrestling season, Ford said she told Simon, “No pressure.”

“And then she did that!” said Ford of her results. “She won by a hundredth of a second – it was a super close finish, very exciting.”

Lehiwa Pedro placed third in discus, another unexpected result for Ford.

“Lehiwa surprised everybody in her debut throwing discus – it her first time competing [in the event],” said Ford.…

Tennis Teams Hitting their Strides

Wednesday, April 1st, 2015

After suffering early season losses, both the boys’ and girls’ tennis teams are starting to bring in victories. Last weekend at home against the St. Anthony Trojans, the girls got their first win of the season, while the boys won twice against the Trojans.

“We always get better as the season goes on,” said Head Coach Dean Chow. “… At the end of the season we like to challenge the first place teams because we think we’ll be right there with them.”

On both Friday and Saturday, Molokai’s boys beat St. Anthony 4-1. Molokai’s girls lost 4-1 on Friday but won 3-2 the next day.…

Volleyball Wins the One That Counts

Wednesday, April 1st, 2015

The Molokai Farmers boys’ volleyball team split last weekend with games against Kamehameha Maui at The Barn.  On Friday night, after dropping the first set, the Farmers took the next three to win the match.

“We started out slow and lost the first set but I told them in the huddle that it’s time to step up and it’s ours for the taking and they came out and played better and we got the win in four sets,” said Head Coach Hale Domingo.

Saturday’s game was a non-league match and the farmers lost in five sets.

“When we play the Division I schools, only the Friday night game counts in the standings,” explained Domingo of Molokai’s Division II team.…

Farmers Afar: Rizpah Umi

Wednesday, April 1st, 2015

In a new series, the Dispatch celebrates former Molokai athletes who have taken their homegrown skills to new stages off island. If you know of a Molokai athlete competing at college, the professional level or elsewhere, let us know by emailing editor@themolokaidispatch.com or calling 552-2781.

The first Native Hawaiian wrestler in Wayland Baptist University (WBU) history is already making a name for herself and the small island she hails from. Just a freshman at WBU, 2014 Molokai High School graduate Rizpah Umi was named an All-American wrestler last month.

Umi earned the distinction after finishing eighth out of 29 wrestlers from across the country.…