The HBA fall sports season ended emphatically with an emotional five-set victory by the girls varsity volleyball team in the division II state championship match November 8th. The team defeated a game Word of Life team 26-28, 25-19, 25-27, 25-21, 15-13 to claim its second straight state title. Click on the links below for the various media coverage.
Also attached is the summary of other noteworthy accomplishments by HBA student-athletes this fall.
Girls Varsity Volleyball Team Defends ILH & State Championships
In a dramatic and memorable state title match that neither team deserved to lose, HBA outlasted Word of Life Academy 26-28, 25-19, 25-27, 25-21, 15-13 to claim its second straight HHSAA Girls Volleyball State Division II Championship. The five set marathon, which took 2 hours and 35 minutes to complete, was held November 8th at the UH Stan Sheriff Center and was televised live statewide on OC16.
HBA, the tourney’s top seed, advanced to the title match by defeating Castle HS in the quarter-finals and Kailua HS in the semi-finals. Both matches were played at Farrington HS.
Leading the way for the Lady Eagles was junior outside hitter
Sarah Palmer who was named the tourney’s Most Outstanding Player for the second straight year. Joining her on the all-tournament team were junior outside hitter
C’era Oliveira and senior libero
Kelly Chang.
Other members of the team were seniors
Chelsie Mow,
Leah Tamura, and
Jenna Kagimoto, juniors
Taryn Bohan,
Brianna Lovett,
Jennifer Young,
Leinaala Mussel,
Kelsey Hamano and
Oliveira, and sophomore
Kayla Kawamura. The team was coached by Myles Shioji (HBA ’94), Jared Gandia (HBA ’04), Tricia Yoshimura (HBA ’06) and Ryan Scudder.
HBA XCountry Teams Kick to the Finish / Nakamoto ILH Champ, State Runner-up
For the second time in as many years, HBA qualified enough runners to post both boys and girls team scores at the HHSAA state cross country championships. The teams acquitted themselves well with the boys finishing 9th out of 21 teams and the girls finishing 6th out of 17 teams. The girls team finish (168 pts.) marked its highest placement ever and was just a single point behind 5th place Mililani HS. The state meet was held October 31st at the campus course of Hawaii Preparatory Academy on the Big Island.
Individually,
Matt Nakamoto improved on an outstanding junior campaign by finishing 2nd overall (17:34.40) out of 197 competing runners. The top 20 finishers earned medals. Nakamoto also defended his ILH championship October 25th at the Central Oahu Regional Park by clocking in at 16:45 to win going away. The second place finisher from Iolani came in at 17:31.
Also representing HBA in the state championships were senior
Darrin Ginoza, juniors
Sean Mickelsen,
Trace Takata,
Wyland Luke,
Tia Nakashima and
Chelsea Chan, sophomores
Chad Nakaoka,
Matthew Ota,
Heidi Nicholls,
Keri Ogoshi,
Jamie Takushi,
Sarah Chan,
Shelby Tanaka and
Torri Kon, and freshmen
Kelvin Abe and
Carly Thomas.
Head coaches for the team were HBA teachers Ross Mukai and Derek Coryell. Among the assistant coaches were HBA teacher Cindy Lee, Aaron Kondo (HBA ’05), Christian Nakanishi (HBA ’07) and HBA teacher Matt Stevens (HBA ’97 and 3-time state cross country champion).
Boys & Girls Bowling Teams Sweep ILH Varsity & JV Championships
HBA bowling continued its tradition of success by winning ILH titles in all four levels of competition – varsity boys and girls, junior varsity boys and girls.
At the HHSAA state bowling championships, held October 30th and 31st at the Lihue Bowling Center on Kauai, the HBA boys came up short in their bid for a third consecutive state championship finishing with a total pinfall of 7,740, good for 3rd place (11 total teams). The HBA girls knocked down 6,618 pins to land in 8th place (11 total teams).
Individual medalists (top 15 finishers for boys and girls) were juniors
Jaron Goto (5th) and
Brock Wong (8th) and senior
Elisabeth Seamon (12th). Other members of the boy varsity team were seniors
Kelsey Abe,
Jordan Urabe and
Bryan Yamashiro, and juniors
Tyler Hodson,
Derek Leong and
Lewis Wang. Other girls varsity team members were seniors
Erin Fukushima,
Kolleen Lee,
Tatum Tokuda,
Chelsie Matsuoka and
Cassidy Tanimoto.
The champion boys and girls jv team members were juniors
Landon Higashiya,
Nicholas Ayabe and
Brantt Higa, sophomores
James Lowery,
Tracie Fujioka,
Tammie Isobe,
Rebecca Yonashiro and
Torri Yoshizawa, and freshmen
Cailean Ching,
Matthew Leong, Trey Nakata and
Macy Tokuda. Congratulations to all of our keglers!
Head coaches for the teams were the husband and wife duo of HBA PE teacher Greg Hayashi and HBA Library Assistant Lynne Hayashi. Among the assistant coaches was Rich Kodama (HBA ’07).
Girls JV Tennis & Girls JV Volleyball Win ILH Division II Championships
The HBA junior varsity girls tennis team trailed Mid-Pacific in the standings for most of the season. In the end, however, the Lady Eagles caught the Owls, then won in a playoff held on October 24th at Owls’ home courts. Team members were juniors
Emi Ching,
Lauren Higa,
Marika Leitner,
Morgan Machuta,
Joanna Nakama,
Remi Yasui and
Kara Sakuda, sophomore
Tamlyn Takeno, and freshmen
Lauren Liang,
Courtney Nakahara,
Rachel Oda,
Karlen Pang and
Angelica Perreira. Coaches were Wayne Sasaki and Tammy Yamauchi.
Likewise, the HBA junior varsity II volleyball team (HBA fielded two teams this year) trailed Word of Life in the standings and entered the ILH junior varsity II tourney as the 2nd seed. On October 17th at Kamehameha’s Kekuhaupi’o Gymnasium, the girls avenged their only loss of the year by defeating the Firebrands in three sets to win the championship. Team members were junior
Cathy Yong, sophomores
Paige Akiyama and
Kalen Kano, and freshmen
Asia Che,
Alyssa Fujimoto,
Kimberly Kadomoto,
Chris Kurosawa,
Jazmine Saito,
Tiffany Thompson,
Natasha Travens and
Noel Utsugi. Coaches were Alan Cabanting, Serafin David, Jr. and volunteer assistant Branden Kaneshiro (HBA ’09).
Fall Season Recognition
ILH all-stars were voted on by league coaches: (At press time, varsity football, kayaking and water polo had not conducted their all-star selections)
Ian Hew, sophomore – State qualifier, Air Riflery
Matt Nakamoto, senior – ILH 1st Team Cross Country, ILH Runner of the Year
Tiare Nakashima, junior – ILH 2nd Team Cross Country
Kelly Chang, senior – ILH 1st Team Volleyball
Sarah Palmer, junior – ILH 1st Team Volleyball
C’era Oliveira, junior – ILH 1st Team Volleyball
Kayla Kawamura, sophomore – ILH 2nd Team Volleyball
Leinaala Mussel, junior – ILH Honorable Mention Volleyball
Jaron Goto, junior – ILH 1st Team Bowling, ILH Player of the Year
Tyler Hodson, junior – ILH 1st Team Bowling
Jordan Urabe, senior – ILH 2nd Team Bowling
Derek Leong, junior – ILH 2nd Team Bowling
Elizabeth Seamon, senior – ILH 1st Team Bowling, ILH Player of the Year
Erin Fukushima, senior – ILH 1st Team Bowling
Kolleen Lee, senior – ILH 2nd Team Bowling
Overview
