LIHU‘E — Keyah-Leilani Agoot picked up minimum qualifications in 10 events for the upcoming Coach Soichi Sakamoto Invitational meet, held May 26 to May 28 on Maui. Agoot, 14, led the field of 21 swimmers who qualified in various events,
LIHU‘E — Keyah-Leilani Agoot picked up minimum qualifications in 10 events for the upcoming Coach Soichi Sakamoto Invitational meet, held May 26 to May 28 on Maui.
Agoot, 14, led the field of 21 swimmers who qualified in various events, including 14 swimmers from Mokihana Aquatics, which hosted the two-day Unclassified Meet over the weekend.
Coach Orlando Anaya was pleased that several swimmers made their first qualifications, including Tiana Amo, who according to Anaya, never swam at the club level until this meet.
Amo, who swam for high school teams, qualified for the 100-Yard Back and 50-Yard Free.
Kelly Culliney, 12, picked up for first qualification in the 50-Yard Free.
In order for swimmers to qualify for the Maui meet, they had to equal or exceed HIAA standards for their age group.
Agoot posted 10 HIAA qualifying times while the leading Kaua‘i Swim Aquatics swimmer, Ben Baldwin, posted nine qualifying events, of which two were ZONE times. The remaining seven events were QUAL standards, one level better than the HIAA marks.
Many swimmers penned “Mom-o-Grams” in honor of their mothers who could, on occasion, be seen wiping tears from their eyes as Anaya read the messages between events throughout the day Sunday.
High school seniors Keenan Anaya and Torrey Ikeda were honored by testimonials about their Mokihana Aquatics and high school swimming careers.
Anaya picked up qualifications in six events, four of which were ZONE times, and the remaining two QUAL standards.
Kesia Anaya, 13, picked up seven qualifying events, one of which was a QUAL time.
Baldwin and Michelle Woltmon spearheaded the SKA qualifying, with Woltmon finishing the event by qualifying for seven events. Anya Littlefield qualified for two events and Emma Rausch finished by qualifying for the 50-Yard Free.
John Bezduch of visiting Island Pacific Aquatics, formerly known as Barber’s Point, led the IPA qualifiers by earning five spots as well as providing some tight competition for Baldwin.
In the 50-Yard Free event, Bezduch nosed out Baldwin by a scant .21 seconds, with both swimmers earning QUAL times.
Anaya said the climax of the day came when five mothers turned out for a Mom’s Race. All of the Mokihana Aquatics mothers were treated to lei and a gift certificate, Anaya said.
Full qualifying listings for the 21 swimmers can be found in the scoreboard section on page B2.
• Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) and dfujimoto@kauaipubco.com.
