Castle Knights ‘Win’ With State-of-the-Art Stadium Track
Wicker, beating Kailua to the line in the 1-mile race by 3.99 seconds for their sixth win of the season in six races. Zac Vollert, Mike Mitchell, Rayson Doo, Kekoa Borges, Nick Herrera and steersman Ula Holt did the paddling for Kalaheo.
The Kailua girls broke through with their first OIA title since the sport was instituted in 2001, meanwhile, beating Kalaheo by nearly 18 seconds. Kailua’s lineup included Makayla Berlier, Alexis Wong, Kawehi Pedrina, Kalai Wilkinson, Kiani Cabral and Chassidy Nee.
With Kalaheo and Kailua splitting the boys and girls races, bragging rights came down to the varsity mixed competition. The Mustangs managed to eke out a win over Kailua by 6 seconds, thanks to a flawless second turn to take the title for the fourth year in a row. Doo and Herrera doubled up on OIA championships by paddling for the mixed after helping win the boys race. Ilima Sumida, Alex Gasparenas, Tiana Grant and Taylor Soldat rounded out the crew.
Kailua defeats Castle in
Hammer Trophy game
Kahaku Iaea threw three touchdown passes, including two to teammate Micah Kaimana, as Kailua claimed the Hammer Trophy with a workmanlike 24-6 win over Castle Sept. 22. The Surfrider offense was limited to just 214 yards by a stout Knights defense, but made the most of its opportunities to pick up the win, adding a safety along the way. The Kailua defense also was impressive, yielding only 108 total yards to the Knights. Let the hype begin for next year’s game.
Renovation of football stadium a huge boost to Castle program
2012 was a rebuilding year on the field for Castle football, but the Knights will return to work for 2013 with a state-of-theart stadium and track. Cost of the full renovation, which includes a new “service” road, an announcer’s booth, a storage facility and new synthetic field turf, totaled more than $5 million. Perhaps most impressive among the new additions will be the field turf, which is known as Matrix 46.
Castle will be the only football stadium in the state with Matrix 46, which is produced by the Texas-based firm Hellas Construction. The Matrix 46 surface is the same as the one currently being used by the Dallas Cowboys.
Kailua baseball team wins OIA Red title The Kailua baseball team relied on its pitching staff in a riveting 3-1 win over Moanalua in the OIA Red Baseball championship game at Hans L’Orange Park April 28. Starting pitcher Bryce Ah Sam, middle reliever Jacob Cobb-Adams and closer Kea Vierra combined on a four-hitter to help the Surfriders (14-1) capture their first league crown since 2005 and 12th overall.
Kailua finished 16-2 overall, with its only losses coming to Moanalua in the regular season and to Hilo High at the Division I state baseball championships. Kailua finished fifth at the state tournament.
Kailua senior shortstop Kila Zuttermeister was named OIA Red East Player of the Year at season’s end.
Kailua head coach Corey Ishigo was chosen as the division’s Coach of the Year in a vote by his peers.
Kahuku Girls win OIA water polo title Paulina Germain scored three goals, and teammates Sydney Foster and Kallie Krebs tallied two each to lead the Kahuku girls water polo team to a 9-6 win over Kapolei April 28 in the OIA championship game at Central Oahu Regional Park. The girls, who won their third straight OIA title, finished 16-1 overall in 2012, and were a game away from playing for a state title at the state water polo championships before a loss to Kamehameha-Kapalama in the semi-finals.
