Mokihana Aquatics finished with 300.5 points and Swim Kaua‘i Aquatics totalled 76.5 points to earn seventh and 12th places respectively at the 32nd Annual Soichi Sakamoto Invitational swim meet on Maui over the weekend. Within the overall individual standings, 10
Mokihana Aquatics finished with 300.5 points and Swim Kaua‘i Aquatics totalled 76.5 points to earn seventh and 12th places respectively at the 32nd Annual Soichi Sakamoto Invitational swim meet on Maui over the weekend.
Within the overall individual standings, 10 Kaua‘i swimmers, including two from Swim Kaua‘i Aquatics, made the leader boards.
“This was our first travel meet ever, and we exceeded our expections,” said Swim Kaua‘i Aquatics coach Ron Davis. “It was a great meet for all of our five SKA swimmers in attendance.”
SKA swimmers were led by Ben Baldwin, who finished third overall in the 15-16 Men individual standings with a meet total of 56.5 points. Michelle Woltmon earned a ninth place in the 15-16 Women individual standings with a meet total of 14 points.
Mokihana Aquatics’ Keenan Anaya, who will be graduating from Kaua‘i High School this week, finished second overall in the Open Men division with 64 points.
Torrey Ikeda, another Mokihana Aquatics swimmer graduating from Kaua‘i High School, finished 12th in the Open Women division, just a point better than a two-way tie for the 13th slot. Ikeda finished with a meet total of 10 points over the two-way jam between Lindsey Wong and Rachel Randall.
Kelsey Tanaka, Kyson Gusukuma and Matthew Ross shared the leader board with Baldwin in the 15-16 Men division, Tanaka ending up in 10th place with seven points followed by Gusukuma and Ross in 14th and 15th places with 3.5 and 2 points, respectively.
Meaghan Sims had strong swims against Woltmon in Kaua‘i meets, and managed to edge her out in the 15-16 Women division with an eighth overall individual placement, earning 15 points to Woltmon’s 14 points.
Keyah-Leilani Agoot ended the meet with a sixth place overall individual placement in the 13-14 Women division with a meet total of 20 points. Kesia Anaya finished ninth in that division with 13 points.
“While Baldwin and Woltmon continue to be our team leaders in performance, we have a number of up-and-coming younger swimmers,” Davis said.
“Anya Littlefield, 12, Emma Rausch, 13, and Sonya James, 15, recorded a number of lifetime best times while placing well against good off-island competition,” Davis said.
Following the Sakamoto meet, Davis said SKA will enter two swimmers at the upcoming Hawai‘i State Long Course Age Group Championships which will be held June 9 to 12 at the new aquatics facility at the West O‘ahu Regional Park.
Baldwin will compete in the 15-16 Boys category with new Kaua‘i resident Ryann Linthicum, who had a strong showing during the past several Mokihana meets. Linthicum will swim in the 11-12 division.
Davis said future competitions on the SKA calendar include the Keo Nakama Invitational on O‘ahu from June 30 to July 2.
All five swimmers who qualified for the Sakamoto meet, as well as Jennifer Lyon, Kiki Abrams and Linthicum, are qualified for that event, Davis said.
Individual meet results and more detailed standings can be found by visiting the Hawai‘i Swimming Web site at hawaiiswim.org.
• Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@kauaipubco.com
