Kaiser pulls shocker to win boys crown in air riflery

COURTESY: CYNTHIA SHIMODA
Hilo’s Nikolas Galdones posed with the individual trophy after scoring 547 points.

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COURTESY: CYNTHIA SHIMODA

Hilo’s Nikolas Galdones posed with the individual trophy after scoring 547 points.

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COURTESY: CYNTHIA SHIMODA

Sacred Hearts’ Kaitlyn Choy is the school’s first individual girls champion since 2010.

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COURTESY: CYNTHIA SHIMODA

The Pearl City girls pose after winning state team titles at the Blaisdell Exhibition Hall on Tuesday.

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COURTESY: CYNTHIA SHIMODA

The Kaiser Cougars boys team pose after winning state team titles at the Blaisdell Exhibition Hall on Tuesday.

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Since the first state championship was held in 1999, only five schools had won the boys air riflery competition.

Kaiser is now the sixth.

The Cougars prevailed over Hanalani with a score of 2,081 points in the Civilian Marksmanship Program/HHSAA Air Riflery State Championships on Tuesday at the Blaisdell Exhibition Hall to join Saint Louis, Punahou, Moanalua, Waiakea and Mid-Pacific as winners of a boys state title.

“Ecstatic. Shocking. In awe. Oh my gosh I can go on with adjectives galore,” Kaiser coach Ann Olson said. “Never in our wildest dreams did we ever think we could win a state championship.”

Pearl City won the girls state championships for the third time ever and first since 2015.

Hilo’s Nikolas Galdones won the individual boys title with a score of 547 to beat Mid-Pacific’s Colby Fujino and Kailua’s Kainoa Soda.

Galdones is the second straight individual boys champion from the Big Island.

Kaiser’s top four finishers all placed in the top 20, led by senior Michael Mann, who finished in eighth place with a score of 524.

Senior Bradley Uyeunten finished right behind his teammate with a score of 522 to earn a top-10 finish. Sophomors Donovan Collard scored a 517 and Rowen Balagtas finished with 513 points.

“It is stunning and very, very meaningful and I just can’t express how proud I am of the gentlemen,” Olson said. “They just produced and got the job done.”

Sacred Hearts’ Kaitlyn Choy is the school’s first individual girls champion since it had a run of three from 2008 to ’10. Choy’s score of 546 points was enough to beat runner-up Hailey Oh of Punahou.

Pearl City’s Stecya Santos finished in fourth place with a score of 539 points to lead the Chargers to the team title.

Kaidee Soohoo (529), Chloe Obuhanych (521) and Ella Wenceslao (517) rounded out the team win to give coach Les Aranaydo his third state championship with the team.

Sacred Hearts and Punahou had combined to win the first 13 girls team titles before Waiakea broke through to win in 2012.

Pearl City became the first OIA school to win it in 2013.

Correction: The fourth member of Kaiser's winning boys team was incorrectly identified. It has been updated with the correct name.