LIHU‘E — Sara Funtanilla, 9, had a perfect meet during the Mokihana Aquatics two-day timed trials which ended Sunday at the Kaua‘i High School pool. Funtanilla had received permission “to swim up” and was competing with swimmers in the 12
LIHU‘E — Sara Funtanilla, 9, had a perfect meet during the Mokihana Aquatics two-day timed trials which ended Sunday at the Kaua‘i High School pool.
Funtanilla had received permission “to swim up” and was competing with swimmers in the 12 and Under group. She posted improvements in all of her five events, earning three HI-B times and a HI-A time standard in the process.
She was one of three swimmers competing in a higher age group in preparation for aging up, said Mokihana Aquatics Coach Orlando “O” Anaya.
Funtanilla had her best swim in the 200 Freestyle event where she stopped the clock at 3:30.91 for a HI-B time and an improvement of 13.46 over her previous swim.
Her HI-A time came in the 50 Back where she stopped the clock at 49.33 for a first-place finish and a 2.38-seconds improvement.
Micah Nobriga-Ferris, 14, Kaikea Roe, 13, and James Wilmot, 13, all finished with near-perfect meets, missing on just one event in 10 events they swam in.
“Keep an eye on these boys,” Anaya said during the meet. “They have the potential to be one of the great relay teams.”
Nobriga-Ferris finished with six gold medals and chopped a large 15.19 off his swim in the 200 Yack Backstroke, stopping the clock at 2:59.61.
This was good enough for a HI-B time standard. He finished the day with three HI-B standards and five HI-A times, his best HI-A swim coming in the 200 Freestyle where he finished first on a 2:26.84 swim and chopped 11.79 off his seeded time.
Roe finished with five first finishes and swam his greatest event in the 200 Yard Butterfly where he touched at 3:06.16 for a 15.86 improvement over his seeded time. That was good enough for a HI-B time standard, one of five he earned. He also finished with five HI-A times, his best showing coming in the 200 Free where he touched at 2:30.40 for an 11.40 improvement.
Wilmot, described by Anaya as a “tiger,” ended with his best swim coming in the 200 Yard Individual Medley where he touched at 2:55.07 for a 10.13 improvement, good enough for a HI-B time standard. Wilmot finished the event with five HI-B times and two HI-A times.
Kayana Yamaguchi, 12, was swimming in only her second meet and already showed signs of greatness, her best performance coming in the 200 Freestyle where she secured a HI-B time on her 3:00.43 swim, an improvement of 20.58. She also showed strong in the 100 Fly, taking off for a solid lead, but setting for a second finish on a 1:47.34 swim, an improvement of 17.75.
Luke Roberts, 10, celebrated his birthday at the meet, finishing with seven first finishes, including one in the 200 Free where he touched on a 3:29.40 for a HI-B time and an improvement of 14.24 over his seeded time. He finished the meet with two HI-B times and four HI-A times, his best swim in that time coming in the 100 Free where he touched at 1:32.29 for an improvement of 5.10.
Kayla Ishida, 13, and Kaitlyn Jarry, 17, both coming off swims from the recent Bill Smith Invitational meet, was pitted against each other in many of the events, Ishida getting aged up.
Ishida, who went neck-to-neck in a see-saw for the lead in the Girls 100 Butterfly, was edged out at the end by less than a body’s length by Jarry, settling for a 1:17.09 to Jarry’s 1:16.09 swim.
But Ishida finished with three HI-A time standards and seven HIAA time standards in her performance.
Jarry earned a qualifying time in the 200 Back where she touched at 2:39.95. Her best swim was in the race with Ishida in the 100 Butterfly where she shaved 0.73 off her seeded time for a HIAA time.
Makanani Mersberg, 11, finished with a strong 100 Free, stopping the clock at 1:26.67 fpr a 10.53 improvement, Marcus Robinson, 10, knocked 17.25 off his seeded time in the 200 Free (3:29.40) for a second finish, Gracie Stokes, 11, shaved 7.69 off her seeded time in the 200 Free (2:58.31), Alana Tamashiro, 10, had her best swim in the 200 Free (3:52.92), taking off 19.51 off her seeded time, and Juliana Tampus, 9, another swimmer swimming up, ended with a 16.89 improvement in the 100 Back (1:57.20).
Visit www.mokihanaaquatics.com for more information.
• Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@kauaipubco.com.
