Congratulations to the Kahuku High varsity girls wrestling team and head coach Reggie Torres for decisively bringing home another Hawaii state wrestling championship.

"This is our seventh or eighth state title in wrestling, and 14th state championship in the last six years," said Athletic Director Joe Whitford; and Coach Reggie has won a state title in girls judo, wrestling and also in football. I think he's one of the only coaches in the state of Hawaii that's won state championships in three different sports. Back in 2006 he won both the boys and the girls wrestling state title."

"Our girls dominated the state wrestling tournament," Whitford continued. "They probably knew going into the final day of competition that they had already won, they were so far ahead. On the second day they had already placed five out of eight girls in the semifinals. There are 11 weight classes in girls wrestling, so it was a great effort all around."

Whitford pointed out two Kahuku girls also claimed individual championships: Amanda Soliai at 155 and Danica Auna at 120. "In fact, in the finals Amanda pinned her opponent in just 21 seconds. That's kind of unheard of in a state final. She pinned all of her opponents in the state tournament; and Danica is a repeat state champion."

He added three Kahuku girls also came in second in the state: junior Kala'e Johnson, wrestling at 108; Cianah Hee, 125; and Anela Santiago, "a freshman who ended up second in the 130-pound class."

Whitford also pointed out that five of the girls are getting ready to go to a national meet in Michigan, while four of the boys are going to a match in Reno. "This was kind of a down year for the boys," he said. "They're a very young team."

(Left-right): Phoebe Arnett; Danica Auna, state champ,
120; Cianah Hee, 125, 2nd place; Kala'e Johnson, 108, 2nd
place; Amanda Soliai, 155, state champ; Andrina Ramos,
103, 6th place; Renee Rabaino. Missing: Chelsy Eugenio,
114, 5th place; Erin Ah Sue, 140; and Anela Santiago, 130,
2nd place.

* * * * *

In other Kahuku sports reports:

Judo

Whitford mentioned that quite a few of the wrestlers are "looking forward to a successful judo season," which started as Kaleo went to press. "Many of the wrestlers do judo as well."

"The girls were state judo champs in 2003 and 2004," he continued, noting that sensei Ray Imada from Kaneohe has taken over as head coach from Torres, who is still an assistant coach for the team.

Boys basketball

The Kahuku High varsity boys basketball team ended up seventh in the state tournament. "They lost their first night to Kamehameha. Then our point guard, Jray Galea'i, went out with a severe ankle sprain — and we lost him for the tournament; but they subsequently won their final two games, and ended up as the consolation champion."

"There were only a few seniors on the team — Willy Ching, Pat Au and Jack Damuni. We have a host of them coming back next year, so we should be pretty formidable next year in boys basketball."

Whitford pointed out that head coach Nathan James "just completed his ninth season. He's done very well, considering that most of our boys play basketball just because they want to play, whereas for some of the competition, that's their primary sport — that's all they do. To be able to compete at that level, I think, is very commendable."

He added the boys came in second in the OIA East, and lost in the OIA quarterfinals to Mililani.

Girls basketball

Whitford said this past season was a "rebuilding year for the girls team, but I would like to mention that two of them got invited to play in Mayor Mufi Hannemann's all-star classic tournament — senior center Alayna Galea'i and sophomore forward Taeja Afalava.

Golf

The AD reported that both the boys and girls teams have already had their first tournament, under head boys coach Andrew Ching, a 2001 Red Raider; and Joevan Joaquin for the girls team.

Baseball

Under coach Steve Van Ness the Red Raiders will play in the OIA White division this year for the first time. "I think it's comparable competition for them," Whitford said. "Again, you have kids playing year-round baseball at some schools. We can't compete against them."

Track and Field

Track and field has also begun, with Sean Makaiau, Garth Spurrier, Keala Santiago (hurdles and jumps), Dwayne Fely (weights) and Craig Knohl (distance runners) doing coaching duties.

"The girls team will be really tough this year," Whitford said. "The guys as well. Two years ago we were OIA and state champions, which is quite an accomplishment when you consider we have to set up the hurdles on the grass."

Girls softball

The girls softball season has also started. "Last year they were division champs, but this year they're in division two. Our home field is at Hauula Elementary."

Boys volleyball

Whitford explained OIA boys volleyball has a new format: "Three teams travel to a site, where each plays the other two teams in one session. In the past they played with the girls, first JV then varsity."

"We have a lot of football and basketball players who are playing for the first time, because volleyball is now played in the spring," he said, adding the boys under coach Kaniela Kalama, assisted by Michelle Cazimero, recently defeated Kaimuki and Waialua.

Water polo

Water polo has already started spring play. "It should be another interesting. Our team hasn't lost a match in five years of competition," said Whitford, who coached for part of that time and has since seen his daughter, Makana Whitford take over the reins.

"With the new transition come changes. They're doing a lot more swimming to prepare for the challenges, but they have a solid nucleus with a lot of returnees this year," he continued, adding this may be their best chance to knock off the perennial ILH state water polo champions.

"They've already beaten Kamehameha, one of the favorites. We're pretty optimistic."

Asked how he thinks the ILH feels when the Kahuku girls beat them, he replied, "They take it really hard, because for a lot of their girls swimming is a year-around sport; when they get beat by the country girls, that's pretty hard for them to swallow. It's going to be very interesting, and we look forward to it."

Paddling

"We didn't do too well this year," Whitford reported. "We don't have too many kids who paddle in the summer, whereas those who live in Kaneohe and Kailua have clubs where kids are paddling year-round."

Surfing

"That's still at the club level," Whitford said, pointing out that a recently announced "OIA surf meet" was cancelled for lack of surf. "I don't know what kind of rules or safety precautions they will take, or whether they'll have to get a permit to keep other surfers out."

He added he doesn't think the OIA will officially start interscholastic surfing any time soon.

Spring football practice

…will start the week of May 19th. The annual "Red-and-White scrimmage, if we have one, will be in early June," Whitford said. He added Kahuku is trying to schedule a home pre-season game with a team from Las Vegas in late August or early September.

Administrative changes

Whitford said the OIA AD association is "going to take another look at boys and girls basketball teams playing on the same schedule. We have to tweak that."

"One of the options is perhaps having the boys and girls use Saturdays, running four games from morning until afternoon. This past year we were playing Mondays, and the scheduling was crazy," he continued. "We're looking at that situation."

The AD said the coaches are also considering JV boys soccer. "We had 20 boys on our team, so we would like to play; but the problem is we're still trying to balance the Title IX issue [which calls for gender equity in school sports]. It's almost a federal mandate that we keep the numbers equal."

"In the near future, I don't foresee us adding any more boys sports; and here at Kahuku, we will never balance because of our number of boys in track and football. We have so many more boys participating."

Asked if that's a problem for Kahuku, Whitford replied, "As long as we provide sports, girls have the choice to come out. If we didn't provide opportunities for them, then we'd be in trouble. We're not going to limit our squad size just because the other gender chooses not to participate."

For example, he pointed out that we only have a girls water polo team at Kahuku, while on the neighbor islands some schools have JV boys volleyball, "but we don't here. That's why we added a blue team this past year, which can include girls from 9-12, as well as the JV team."

"We're still trying to balance the participation of girls and boys," he said. "Some schools have been compliant, but most schools are not. There are just more boys than girls overall who want to play sports in high school."

Bowling

With the recent closing of Waialae Bowl, Whitford said there are only three public bowling alleys left on the island, "and the town schools don't have any other places to practice." He added that various military bases also have lanes, "but they're generally not available to the public."

"We're lucky we practice at BYU-Hawaii; but for everyone else the lanes are very crowded. The other issue we're anticipating is, as demand outstrips supply, the cost of bowling might go up. Bowling may be on the way out as an OIA sport."

Team transportation

Whitford reported Kahuku runs about a $6,000-7,000 annual deficit over budget to transport teams to various games, "so we have to fundraise. Normally we do it through the football concession sales, which is why we limit outside sales at those games."

"We have a lot of outside entities that want to come, but that's how we make up our transportation deficit," he continued. "We have 55 teams and over 700 kids participating: That's a lot of people to move around, and don't forget teams traveling to the outer islands."

"We'd love to open concession sales. I know others would provide some things that maybe we couldn't do as well, but we have to take care of our team transportation first."

Using BYU-Hawaii facilities

Whitford stressed that he works closely with BYU-Hawaii and wanted to clarify any rumors or false impressions that the university has cut back on allowing Kahuku High to use its facilities:

"They actually supplement our athletics," he said. "We use their tennis courts, swimming pool, softball field and the bowling alley. For example, if the total cost for a season is $2,000, we pay $1,000 and BYU-Hawaii subsidizes the other costs. I'm okay with that."

"I'm also grateful, because we don't have the facilities: So either we don't provide the sports for our athletes, or else we pay to use them."

He added there is an insurance liability issue that might require other Kahuku activities and community organizations to sign a waiver or obtain their own insurance, such as the OIA carries for its sports teams.

"Having BYU-Hawaii facilities available to Kahuku High is a great thing," he said. "We need to provide opportunities for our student athletes, and because we are a country school, there are not a lot of alternatives. Athletics plays an important function for our students."

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