Upson, Taguma top KIF golfers - The Garden Island

Dennis Fujimoto / The Garden Island

Heading for the state tournament is the Kauai High School boys golf team, in red from left Braeden Yokoyama, Christian Ganir, Kanoa Nii, Kamden Nii and Jaydon Kyono, joined by individualists James Pratt of Island School, left, Kekoa Eisenhour of Kapaa High School, second from right, and top boys individualist Niki Upson of Island School, right.

Dennis Fujimoto / The Garden Island

Island School’s Niki Upson gets his photo taken by Sam Pratt, Kauai Interscholastic Federation golf tournament director, Saturday after Upson was named top boys individualist during the state qualifying golf finals at Wailua Golf Course.

Dennis Fujimoto / The Garden Island

The Kauai High School girls golf team, from left Tyra Oshiro, Jessica Hreljac, Sabrina Murphy, Taryn Taguma, Keesha Brown and Cheyenne Duarte celebrate the Kauai Interscholastic Federation championship Saturday while waiting on the boys to finish the state qualifying finals at Wailua Golf Course.

WAILUA Island School sophomore Niki Upson finished two days of Kauai Interscholastic Federation qualifying golf as the top male individualist at the Wailua Golf Course.

WAILUA — Island School sophomore Niki Upson finished two days of Kauai Interscholastic Federation qualifying golf as the top male individualist at the Wailua Golf Course.

Kauai High School senior Taryn Taguma picked up a pair of birdies on the second day to finish at 167 (89-78) to claim the girls’ top individualist honor.

The pair of top individualists will join the KIF golf teams from Kauai High in advancing to the David S. Ishii Foundation Hawaii High School Athletic Association state tournaments that will be contested at the Waikoloa Kings Course on the Big Island. The girls will play on Tuesday and Wednesday, May 7 and 8, and the boys will take the course on Thursday and Friday, May 9 and 10.

“We’re taking everyone,” said Steve Murphy, the Kauai High girls golf coach. “We have the team championship, and there are just six players, so everyone is going.”

Upson trailed Kauai High’s Christian Ganir by a stroke after the opening round, but rebounded from his slow start on the first three holes to finish with a 79 (40-39) during the final round Saturday for his 158 (79-79) total — three strokes better than Ganir, who ended the two days at 161 (78-83). Upson picked up birdies on the the ninth and 10th holes during the final round.

Upson will be joined by Kapaa’s Kekoa Eisenhour (84-81-165), who finished the qualifying tournament fourth overall, and Island School’s James Pratt (85-85-170, fifth overall) filling in the three available spots for the KIF.

The three individualists will be joined by the Kauai High School team, capturing the KIF team title with a one-loss record. Ganir leads the team effort along with Kanoa Nii (81-81-162, third overall), Jaydon Kyono (81-84-172, sixth overall), Kamden Nii (84-88-172, tie sixth), and Braeden Yokoyama (88-104-192, 13th overall).

Results

Girls:Taryn Taguma (Kau) 89-78-167, Tyra Oshiro (Kau) 86-84-170, Jessica Hreljac (Kau) 91-87-178, Keesha Brown (Kau) 96-89-185, Sabrina Murphy (Kau) 106-91-197, Cheyenne Duarte (Kau) 109-100-209.

Boys: Niki Upson (IS) 79-79-158, Christian Ganir (Kau) 78-83-161, Kanoa Nii (Kau) 81-81-162, Kekoa Eisenhour (Kap) 84-81-165, James Pratt (IS) 85-85-170, Jaydon Kyono (Kau) 91-81-172, Kamden Nii (Kau) 84-88-172, Nick Esposo (Wai) 90-86-176, Jayson Serrano (Kau) 93-84-177, Luke Dela Pena (Wai) 89-88-177, Mosiah Bautista (Kau) 91-94-185, Carson Oyama (Kau) 93-93-186, Braeden Yokoyama (Kau) 88-104-192, Henry Scherer (IS) 102-92-194, Ryan Martin (Wai) 104-101-205, Justice Snyder (IS) 99-108-207, Kylan Constantino (Wai) 105-107-212, Joshua Gandia (Kap) 108-110-218, Kylan Takakusagi (Wai) 108-112-220, Matthew Taeza (Wai) 123-123-246.

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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.

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