Waimea swimmers made mark at state The Local Motion State Swimming and Diving Championships were held back in February, but some of the performances turned in by the hard-working crew at Waimea High School did not make The Garden Island
Waimea swimmers made mark at state
The Local Motion State Swimming and Diving Championships were held back in February, but some of the performances turned in by the hard-working crew at Waimea High School did not make The Garden Island Newspaper.
And they deserved it. Though just a team of 10, Waimea never failed to give its all. Some of the 10 had never swam competitively before, but, with over five months of grueling, time-consuming practices, they were able to swim their way to the top.
Students from over 50 schools competed at the state level at the Duke Kahanamoku pool at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa.
The members of the Waimea team were Kaina Makua, Bo Domingcil, Jack Flores, Fred Flores, Curt Panthohan, Ivie Fujimura, Teresa Tumbaga, Nicole Makinney, Melissa Domingcil and Chelsea Ueno. The Menehunes were coached by Joanne Tanaka and Sanoe Hookano.
To recap the boys’ results, Makua, Domingcil and the two Flores boys finished seventh in the state in the 200-yard medley relay, dropping their time from 1:55.43 to 1:49.88. The same boys also competed in the 200-yard freestyle relay, where they finished 10th in the state.
Fred Flores, a third-year swimmer, was able to swim two individual events. He swam the 50-yard free in a time of 23.14, good for 10th. He also came in 18th in the 100-free, in a time of 52.88.
Makua also swam an individual event, finishing 19th in the state in the 50-free, in a time of 24.11.
In a February issue of The Garden Island, the Menehune girls were not mentioned.
Fujimura, Tumbaga, Makinney and Domingcil entered the 200-yard freestyle relay seeded last with a time of 1:58.14. An all-out effort yielded the girls an 18th-place finish, however, as the team swam a 1:54.75.
With great effort and practice, Waimea swimmers were able to shed seconds off their times. But how?
The team, as a whole expresses it best, “It’s the adrenaline rush that you get when you’re up there [at states]. That’s something we didn’t get here on the island. There is so much more competition off-island than what we have here.”
And, of course, Waimea could have done nothing without the support of coaches, parents and others.
– Story by Ivie Fujimoto, Waimea High School
17-under playoffs nearing finale
The County of Kaua’i’s 17-and-under boys basketball playoffs continued Sunday at the Kalaheo Neighborhood Center.
In an early upset, North East upset top-seeded Waimea 70-54. Maka Alapai led North East with 14 points. Winnie Arios’ 21 weren’t enough for Waimea. It dropped into the loser’s bracket, where it will face the Red Dirt Boys Tuesday at 6 p.m.
The Boys advanced to that game by defeating Da Lows 61-46. Red Dirt got 16 points from Rodney Morden. Garrett Danner led Da Lows with 17.
The winner of the Red Dirt-Waimea game will have to be immediately ready to play at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. Then, the winner will face surprise Team Faith, who Sunday upset the Westside Boys 44-42. Shawn Kaona led Faith with 15 points. Westside got 12 points each from Micah Bermoy and Bronson Balino.
The winner of Tuesday’s 7:30 p.m. game will face North East in the title game Thursday at 6 p.m.
