Weather-shortened practices could not deter the KIF state-bound bowlers from their mission. Wil Tabian said Wednesday’s practice had to be cut short because of the bad weather, but his Kaua‘i High School boys were hanging around one of the arcade
Weather-shortened practices could not deter the KIF state-bound bowlers from their mission.
Wil Tabian said Wednesday’s practice had to be cut short because of the bad weather, but his Kaua‘i High School boys were hanging around one of the arcade machines.
“The school called to tell us to send the kids home early because they didn’t want them out in this weather,” Tabian said. “But the students will probably hang around and bowl on their own.”
Tabian said the boys take the initiative and come out to bowl on their own like they’ve done throughout the season.
Similarly, the Kapa‘a girls team showed up on schedule for their practice.
“The girls wanted to start bowling six games,” Kapa‘a coach Leah Sanchez said. “They have to bowl six games at states so they wanted to start now.”
The Kaua‘i boys and Kapa‘a girls clinched the KIF bowling championships to advance to the HHSAA state championships that will start Thursday morning at the Lihu‘e Bowling Center.
“We don’t know who we’re going to face yet,” Sanchez said. “But I told the girls they need to bowl 850 and over to get any kind of chance to win.”
“Right now, we only know Aiea is coming, but our top bowlers need to have support from the other bowlers to be competitive.”
Sanchez said the KIF will have her five Warriors and Noelle Campos from Kaua‘i High School competing in the state tournament. By comparison, Sanchez said the OIA has some 40 bowlers coming down for the girls competition.
Of her five Warriors, three are seniors and two are sophomores. Marissa Agena, Rose Ebinger and Rachel Arii are the seniors with Mindi Agena and Jean Manibog sophomores.
“Marissa, Mindi and Rose have been to states before so they have an idea of what to expect,” Sanchez said. “But two of them — Arii and Manibog — are first-time bowlers.”
Sanchez said she feels Mindi Agena and Ebinger have a good chance of medaling as does Campos who finished with a day-high score last weekend. But they need to be on top of their games to do that.
Tabian said he is comfortable with the performance the Raider boys have demonstrated throughout the season.
“For as long as I have been coaching, the state always pits us against the O‘ahu winners,” Tabian said. “At this point, we don’t know who that is, but if the pattern holds, we’ll be up against the O‘ahu winner.”
He feels comfortable knowing the boys will be competitive with whomever they have to face since many of them have already competed at the state level.
“I just told them, you folks need to bowl 900 and over,” Tabian said. “I checked the scores on the Internet and there are boys who can bowl over 1,000, so they just need to be on their game. They’re going to be bowling against the best, so if they win, they can say they beat the best.”
When the tournament starts Thursday, Sanchez said the boys will be bowling during the day and the girls will follow in the afternoon and evening.
Practice sessions start Wednesday afternoon and the tournament wraps up Friday with the awards ceremony.
As the Warrior wahine caught their breath between games, Sanchez told them, “Have fun, but win!”
• Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@kauaipubco.com.
