Sports

Molokai Qualifies in High Jump

Tuesday, March 29th, 2011

At the first meet of the regular Maui Interscholastic League (MIL) season, track and fielder Kalei Adolpho jumped 5-feet-2 in the high jump, a state qualifying height.

“She had pretty crisp looking jumps,” said coach Jessie Ford.

The Farmers competed in last weekend’s Yamamoto Invitational, where two of their five runners placed in Saturday’s final meet. Sophomore Akona Adolpho ran the 800-meter and finished in sixth place, while senior Kalei Adolpho placed fifth in the 800, along with her impressive high jump.

Ford said that Akona Adolpho had an exciting run in his final 800, finishing at 2:11.08 – a 2.5 second drop. She added that this was a learning meet for the team.

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Tennis Holds Own Against Trojans

Tuesday, March 29th, 2011

The Molokai High School tennis team gained in points from last weekend’s matches, winning three match ups against St. Anthony on March 25-26, on the Farmers’ home court.

Sophomore David “Kamanu” Pascua-Kahookano and freshman Quintin “Pono” Chow, both new to the sport this year, won their doubles match 6-1, 6-0.

“David is really good, he’s got really nice strokes,” said coach Catie Brind.

Chow followed up his win on Friday with another doubles win on Saturday, this time teaming up with senior Jordan Hao, 6-0, 6-2.

getting used to covering more of the court, not getting stuck in no-man’s land,” Brind said.

The team heads to Maui to play quadruple matches against Maui High and Maui Prep this weekend, April 1-2 – a make-up meet from the rained out March 4-5 matches.

Molokai vs St Anthony in Tennis
Friday
Pascua-Kahookano and Chow won 6-1, 6-0
Micah Matson lost 1-6, 0-6
Hope Will lost 1-6, 0-6
Rhena Singh lost 6-0, 6-0
Alohalyn Espejo and Shauna Pule-Kaahanui lost 6-4, 6-4
Monalisa Espejo lost 0-6, 0-6
Nerveza and Ruiz won 7-5, 1-6, 6-3
Luke Santiago lost 0-6, 0-6 (played # 1 player in MIL)

Saturday
Nerveza and Ruiz lost 2-6, 2-6
Singh lost 0-6, 0-6
Will lost hope 1-6, 0-6
Mona Espejo lost 0-6, 0-6
Aloha Espejo and Pule-Kaahanui lost 2-6, 2-6
Pascua-Kahookano lost 0-6, 0-6 (also played # 1 player in MIL)
Santiago lost 0-6, 0-6
Matson lost 0-6, 3-6
Chow and Jordan Hao won 6-0, 6-2

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Wahine Wrestlers Recognized

Monday, March 28th, 2011

The Lady Farmers wrestling team can look forward to next year knowing that they have three all-stars on the team. Mikayla Pico, who wrestles in the 98-pound weight class, Rizpah Torres-Umi (120) and Charisse Manley (130) have all succeeded in gaining the respect and attention from coaches across the Maui Interscholastic League (MIL), division II.

The Maui News compiled ballots from coaches from across the MIL D-II , and announced the wrestling all-stars last week. The achievement is a testament to the girls’ performance in the 2010-2011 wrestling season.

Coach Randy Manley is proud of what the girls have accomplished.

“They all qualified for the MIL championship. That was the big thing that put them in this position,” Manley said, noting that they were very determined and worked hard all season.

“I feel honored,” said junior Charisse Manley, who has been wrestling since elementary school..

Manley and her teammates ended behind Lahainluna in second place at this year’s MIL championships. All three of the girls also earned first place in their individual matches at the MIL championship.

“It was exciting and satisfying to s

ee her make the progress that she has,” Randy Manley said of his daughter, Charisse.

“I would like to credit my coach for always being there and helping me through everything,” Charisse said. “And I’d also like to credit my team, too, because they force me to better myself.”,

Torres-Umi, a freshman, said she has high hopes for next season and the rest of her high school career.
“I want to be a three-time champ,” she said. “The MILs were the most memorable this season. All of my matches were not challenging. I think that meant I improved a lot.”

The trio also placed at states: Pico got second place, Torres-Umi placed sixth and Manley took home fourth place.

Torres-Umi’s father, Bob Umi, raised his daughter under a roof of wrestlers. Rizpah is one of twelve children in her family and her older brothers showed her the skills she needed to become an all-star.

“One time somebody asked me, ‘How come your kids are so good at wrestling?’ Easy. I just make them fight for food,” Umi joked.

Mikayla Pico was not available for comments.

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This Week in Molokai Sports

Monday, March 28th, 2011

Molokai softball and boys’ volleyball kept up the winning streak during last weekend’s Maui Interscholastic League (MIL) regular season games, while tennis, track and field, and baseball made strides of their own.

Softball
Homeruns, grand slams and mercy rules were prevalent this past weekend at Duke Maliu Regional Park. The Lady Farmers softball team preserved its undefeated season with two wins off St. Anthony, 11-1 on Friday and 25-5 on Saturday. Framers Amanda Makawi and Natalia Levi both hit in-the-park grand slams.
“I was just thinking how I needed to hustle and get to home plate,” Makawi said of her grand slam. Their next series will also be their last home games of the season, against Hana on April 15.

Check back soon for more results and details!

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Tennis Kicks Off the Season

Monday, March 21st, 2011

The Farmers’ tennis team took on Lahainaluna last weekend on our home court – losing all matches, but for many, gaining their first experiences.

“These guys are tougher than the first guys we were supposed to play,” said volunteer coach, Kanahele Montizor. The combined girls’ and boys’ tennis team had two previous match-ups postponed – one due to rain, on March 4-5, and the other due to the March 11 tsunami.

No Molokai player won a match, but many held their own with set points. Denichell Ruiz and Brittanie-Rae Nerveza, playing doubles, lost both matches on Friday, first earning three points to Lahainaluna’s six (3-6), followed by 0-6. The girls improved on Saturday, with a 2-6, 2-6.

In tennis, each match is divided into sets, where a player must win two of three sets to win the match. Each set is played until one player (or doubles team) reaches six points. Each player participated in two matches against Lahainaluna.
showed them where their strengths were and where their weakness were,” she said.

Brind said she was especially impressed by doubles team Keoki Kaulia-Pelland and Micah Matson, who lost Friday’s matches 0-6, 5-7, but lost by a closer margin on Saturday, 3-6, 4-6.

“Now they’re getting the feel of competition…the slight pressure you have in a game,” Brind said. “But I tell them, just play each point, and do your personal best.”

The team plays St. Anthony at home next weekend, 3 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m. Saturday, at the high school courts.

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Softball Stays Undefeated

Monday, March 21st, 2011

Molokai High School softball hit big over the weekend, protecting their undefeated season by defeating Seabury Hall 19-1 last Friday and 13-7 last Saturday on Maui.

Tootie Rawlins and Amanda Makaiwi rounded the bases, scoring off of two homeruns in the first couple innings and putting the Lady Farmers ahead early. After five innings of play the mercy-rule went into effect, ending the game.

“They can really hit the ball which keeps the momentum going; we just need to continue working on communication and calling out our plays,” said head coach Coco Augustiro.

Keeping the Spartans off the bases, pitcher Jasmine Borden gave up a single run, striking out ten batters throughout the game.

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Kudos for Coaches

Monday, March 21st, 2011

Coaches from the Maui Interscholastic League (MIL) have voted: Molokai’s own Lester Delos Reyes and Doug Furlong were chosen as the 2011 Division II Coach of the Year, for boys’ and girls’ basketball, respectively. The annual award is compiled by the Maui News

“I was pretty surprised. I’m trying to figure out how I got that,” Delos Reyes joked.

Delos Reyes finished his first season as the boys’ basketball coach this past February, leading the team with a 4-2 record and a second place finish at the MIL D-II tournament.
is working with kids on values, respect, responsibility and attitude.Doug has also done a great job this year."

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All-Stars Among Us

Monday, March 21st, 2011

The Molokai boys and girls basketball team have both garnered attention throughout the Maui Interscholastic League (MIL) conference by claiming the female basketball Player of the Year, as well as four all-star players between both teams for Division II.
The Maui News tallied votes from coaches throughout the conference and gave out the awards last week.
Adolpho Earns Player of the Year
Girls’ basketball player of the year, Kalei Adolpho, led her team to the D-II MIL championships this year, and qualified for the state tournament. She also received Player of the Year in 2010.

His father, Scottie Rapanot started teaching his sons how to play sports early in life.
“The boys won’t stop (practicing). I told them that’s the only way to get better. And I won’t stop them as long as they are doing something positive,” Scottie said.

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Kualapu`u Race Fundraiser Success

Wednesday, March 16th, 2011

Community Contributed by Sue Forbes-Kikukawa
Last Saturday, March 5, the first 5K in the “Do 5 for the Kids” race series was held on the Coffees of Hawaii plantation trails. Course conditions were wet and sticky after two days of heavy rain. However, 44 hardy contestants completed the 3.1-mile course despite the thick red-dirt “tread-sealing” of their cleats. Some contestants fared better than the others with a variety of strategies employed. First place girls finisher, Mary Rose Ringor, and second place boys finisher, Noah Donnelly, both shunned footwear in favor of running the distance bare-footed. Others stopped thinking about how heavy their shoes had become and churned out stellar performances despite the challenging course conditions. Results for the top five in each of the four race categories follow.

Girls Under 18
1.    Mary Rose Ringor – 34:23
2.    Mary Grace Ringor – 34:33
3.    Noelani Helm – 34:55
4.    Jamaica Bumatay – 52:12
5.    Yasemin Soares – 52:16
Boys Under 18
1. Nainoa Kahale – 26:08
2. Noah Donnelly – 26:18
3. Kekama Naeole-Starkey – 27:10
4. Kaua Lalim-Rillon – 28:25
Women 18 and Over
1. Sue Forbes-Kikukawa – 25:07
2. Jessie Ford – 26:56
3. Alestra Menendez – 29:26
4. Erica Stein – 30:09
5. Petey Binder – 31:25
Men 18 and Over
1.    Kevin Montague – 24:48
2.    Chavis Purdy – 28:07
3.    Ryan Link – 29:42
4.    Wade Buscher – 30:30
5.    James Espaniola – 30:59

The next two races in the series are slated for Saturdays March 26 and April 2. These races will be used to select a team of four boys and four girls from Kualapu`u School to travel and compete in the Honolulu 5K for Kids on May 1. Monies to fund this trip come from adult registration donations. Saturday’s race just missed the $300 fundraising goal with $290 collected. Race organizers are hoping that the next two races each surpass this goal so that additional students can be added to this highly competitive team. Please come out to support Molokai’s first elementary running team and “Do 5 for the Kids” at one or more of our Saturday events.

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Softball Starts Strong

Monday, March 14th, 2011

The Lady Farmers softball team went up against the Lanai Pine Lasses this past weekend on home turf, and started the season 2-0. Molokai came out full-force on Friday afternoon at Duke Regional Park – by the third inning, Molokai was on top 11-2 and by the end, the Lady Farmers bested Lanai 17-2.

The mercy-rule came into play after three innings.

Dirt was flying everywhere infield, with multiple stolen bases from Molokai, including one home steal to make it 11-2 in the third inning.

“Everybody worked really well together. But we will have to work on our communication as a team,” said Tootie Rawlins.

Coach Coco Augustiro said she believes her team is ready for next game against a tough Seabury Hall next weekend on Maui.
“We should work on our batting, but I’m really proud of all of them and how they played,” she said.

Saturday afternoon’s match was played a little “slower,” according to Augustiro.

After six innings of play, the mercy-rule went into effect again with a final score of 23-7. The Pine Lasses went through three different pitchers.

Tyre Garcias Reyes hit a three-run homerun and Rawlins had two-run triple.

The Farmers will head to Maui this weekend to play Seabury Hall.

“I’m looking forward to it. I’m really curious about Seabury, because we haven’t really seen what they have to offer yet,” Augustiro said.