Weekend Wins for Farmers

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.

Oceana Madani won her 100 yard fly race on Friday, and Kahale Naehu-Ramos also finished first in the 100 yard breaststroke on Friday, and the boys got a close second in the 200 free relay on Saturday.

“It was dramatic and beautifully swum,” said Ford of their performance. The girls came in sixth overall, while the boys swept second place as a team.

The Swim team will be headed to Maui again this weekend and the MIL championships will follow.

“We know exactly what we want to focus on now and we also have additional goals for the next two weekends,” said Ford. “MILs is now only two weeks away.”

The Boys and Girls basketball teams completed a successful road trip to Hana this past weekend picking up two victories each and continuing their great seasons. The Boys are now 7-1 on the season and the Girls are undefeated at 8-0.

Boys Head Coach Mike Kahale is pleased with his team’s progress.

“The boys have continued to make steady progress and have bought into our team philosophy of playing sound, fundamental, man to man defense,” he said. “Things are beginning to gel as well on the offensive end.  There are a few things we need to shore up and fine tune, but I am very proud of their hard work and commitment.”

Girls Head Coach Lee Derouin wants his team to continue working hard.

“The girls have continued to play great team defense and the chemistry offensively is starting to come together,” he said. “We need to keep working hard each week in practice and keep improving.”

Both the boys and the girls will travel again to Maui to face Seabury over the weekend and will return home for their last home games on Jan. 29 and 30 at The Barn against Lanai. Friday, Jan. 29 will be senior night for the girls and the following day for the boys at home in front of their home crowd at The Barn.

The Girls canoe paddling team had another impressive regatta on Maui in some challenging conditions at Kahului Harbor. They finished second overall and will travel again to Maui this next weekend for their fourth regatta. Head Coach Stefani Hubbard said Saturday’s race was challenging.

“Due to the high surf, the decision was made to race in our heats and not race a final [times would determine placing],” she explained. “With us and Seabury being in different heats, our biggest enemy was ourselves and the clock. During the race, the girls had a few mishaps and fell a little behind King Kekaulike. But through sheer determination, they were able to pull it together and nudge them out in the end.”

They enjoyed a first place finish in their heat, which was enough to place them second just over four seconds behind Seabury, closing the 10 second gap from last week.

Wrestling Head Coach Randy Manley is pleased with his team’s progress and is looking forward to wrestling in front of the home crowd this Friday and Saturday at The Barn. Maui wrestlers will be arriving on Molokai via the ferry on Friday and wrestling at the Barn Friday night and Saturday morning before returning to Maui Saturday afternoon.

“In only our second regular season tournament, we are already seeing improvements and we are looking forward to wrestling at home this weekend,” said Manley.