LIHU‘E — The last set of KIF athletes were honored at King Auto Center yesterday, with almost every school being represented. Kaua‘i’s Kirby Yates (baseball, June), Lezlee Tao (tennis, April), Rachel Taira (basketball, June), Kula’s Sean Ogawa (golf, April), Kapa‘a’s
LIHU‘E — The last set of KIF athletes were honored at King Auto Center yesterday, with almost every school being represented.
Kaua‘i’s Kirby Yates (baseball, June), Lezlee Tao (tennis, April), Rachel Taira (basketball, June), Kula’s Sean Ogawa (golf, April), Kapa‘a’s Jennifer Lindsey (track and field, May), and Waimea’s 4×100 relay team (Troy Yamase, Eric Oroc, Thomas Batis, Kenny Estes) took home shiny trophies from the five star dealership.
“I’m happy to get this award, especially twice and I know they didn’t have this awhile back, so it’s definitely good to get it,” Yates said.
Yates, a baseball phenom since his days playing youth baseball for Koloa, comes from a strong family of hardball stars.
Most notably, his oldest brother Tyler, who pitches for the New York Mets. Despite an injury this season, the right-hander should be back one of the main setup hurlers for the Mets.
Yates capped off a terrific four-year career as a Red Raider with an impressive performance against Pearl City at the 2005 State Baseball Tournament.
After a win against the Chargers, Kaua‘i was overpowered and overmatched by a much more talented and senior-oriented squad in Punahou, the 2005 champions.
Yates, who pitches in the upper 80s to lower 90s, will make the trip to Arizona and play for Yawapai Junior College.
“I don’t want to get tied up at a four-year school, so I chose the JC route,” Yates said.
Major League Baseball is already knocking on his door, so expect to see him in a big league uniform soon.
Kapa‘a’s Jennifer Lindsey successfully defended her state high jump title this season. Despite a late season ankle injury, Lindsey recovered and reclaimed her title. She will be heading off to UH-Manoa and has spoken to the track and field coach about the possibility of jumping for the Warriors.
Lezlee Tao, the Kaua‘i junior tennis standout, had a break-out season as the number two singles player on the Red Raider squad. Head coach Deb Engdahl has said that Tao has blossomed into a great tennis player and person.
Tao will be looked upon to lead the Kaua‘i tennis squad next season. Her play during this past year’s campaign was instrumental in the championship run of the Red Raider girls’ tennis squad. Kula’s Sean Ogawa, another April athlete of the month, is one of the top golfers on Kaua‘i and showed his stuff during the 2005 KIF golf season. Ogawa also qualified for the 2005 state golf championships.
Kaua‘i’s Rachel Taira, a junior on the KIF champion Red Raider girls’ basketball squad, poured it on when it came down to crunch time. Her game-tying three-pointer against Kapa‘a in the second round of play, might have secured her a spot as the top returning player next season. Waimea’s 4×100 relay team of Eric Oroc, Troy Yamase, Kenny Estes, and Thomas Batis broke the state meet record this season and took home another state championship, Waimea’s second in a row.
The scary part is that both Yamase and Estes will return next season to try for their third state title in a row.
The King Auto Center KIF Student-Athletes of the Month are selected by the five KIF athletic directors representing each of the five schools in the KIF.
Each month, nominations will be made by coaches or athletic directors based on the following criteria: A female and male high school athlete will be selected by athletic achievement, academic standing, citizenship/sportsmanship, and other extracurricular activities. Teams in competition will be considered but not necessarily will there be a representative from each sport in season.
