31 medals for Hawaii Canoe & Kayak Team
Hawaii Canoe & Kayak Team came home from the USA Canoe/Kayak Sprint Nationals in Gainesville, Ga., last week with 31 medals, including 11 national titles. It was the final preparation for World Championships and Olympic qualification for the U.S. men’s sprint team, which trains here.
The K4 team of Pat Dolan, from Kailua, Luke and Jake Michael and Morgan House won the 1,000-meter race by more than 8 seconds. The Michael brothers teamed to win the K2 events at 1,000, 500 and 200 meters, with Luke also capturing the K1 1,000 and 500 races.
Pat’s brother Ryan Dolan and K2 partner Tim Hornsby did not start one race because of illness, but won the 200 meters.
Tina Lighter, who has been training full-time with HCKT just one summer, won three medals at her first nationals. Kalei Kaho‘okele, Trenton Dos Tam and Scanner Cheung, who just returned from the Junior World Championships, all won medals. Kaho‘okele took gold in the K1 200 and K2 500 with Dos Tam. Cheung and Logan Spencer combined to win four silver and two bronze.
Rachel Kincaid captured two silver and a bronze individually. The girls K4 team, made up of 15-year-olds Nicole Fong, Kaimi Yoza and Anna Durham and 12-year-old Malia Gacutan, medaled in the K4 1,000. Durham also collected a bronze medal in the K1 500.
Local girls advance in Rhode Island
All three Hawaii golfers finished in the top 30 and easily advanced to match play Tuesday at the 111th U.S. Women’s Amateur, being played at Rhode Island Country Club.
Maryknoll eighth-grader Mariel Galdiano, who was in second after the opening round of qualifying, followed up with a 75 and finished tied for 18th at 143. The medalists were Korea’s Jihee Kim (70) and New Zealand’s Lydia Ko (66), at 136.
Honolulu’s Stephanie Kono, a senior at UCLA, shot 73 to finish a shot behind Galdiano. Two-time state high school champion Kristina Merkle (73), a junior at Tulsa, was another shot back.
Match play begins today with 32 first-round matches. The 36-hole final is Sunday.
Team USA in bronze-medal match
Team USA, with four players from Hawaii, will play for the bronze medal today at the FIVB Volleyball Men’s Junior World Championship, in Rio de Janeiro.
The U.S. Men’s Junior National team lost to top-ranked Argentina on Tuesday, 27-29, 28-26, 25-19, 25-20, in a semifinal. It is still assured of its highest finish ever.
Honolulu’s Josh Taylor (nine points) and Taylor Crabb (eight) helped the U.S. offense along with setter Micah Christenson, while libero Henry Cassiday contributed 16 digs.
5 named to Under Armour watch list
Five of Hawaii’s top high school girls volleyball players have been named to the Under Armour All-America watch list Tuesday by the American Volleyball Coaches Association.
On the list of incoming seniors are Hawaii Baptist middle CJ Asuncion; Kamehameha’s Chelsey Keoho, a libero, and hitter Misty Ma‘a; Punahou hitter Tai Manu-Olevao; and Molokai hitter Kalei Vaivai.
In November, the AVCA will select 48 players, 24 on the first team and 24 on the second team. First-team players will be invited to participate in the All-America match and skills competition on Dec. 16 in conjunction with the NCAA final four in San Antonio.
