Kamehameha can celebrate its first ever BIIF golf championship by remembering one thing: the Warriors truly won as a team.
In fact, in the final match of the season Waiakea senior Trevor Hirata captured medalist honors with a 4-over-par 76 on Wednesday at Kohanaiki Golf Course.
But Kamehameha snagged the team title with a 78-82-83-84—327 total to edge Waiakea’s 76-88-95-96—355 total.
Kamehameha junior Kala‘i Pomroy led his team’s charge with a 78 and was followed by senior Preston Ching’s 82, freshman Pono Yanagi’s 83, and junior John Andrade’s 84.
Hirata was first, Pomroy second, and Makua Lani’s Matt Rosato third with a 79. Then it was the Ching-Yanagi-Andrade trio that finished fourth, fifth and sixth, bunching low scores to power the Warriors.
After Hirata, Waiakea’s next golfer was Brayden Teshima at seventh, 88; followed by Marc Agpawa, tied for 10th, 95; and Scott Igawa, tied for 12th, 96.
Of the six BIIF meets, Kamehameha topped Waiakea, the two-time league defending champion, 4-2.
And here’s a team-first stat: in three Kamehameha victories, Waiakea pocketed medalist honors but finished second for the team title.
In the season-opener on March 16 at Volcano, Waiakea junior Shon Katahira won, but Kamehameha took the team title.
On April 11 at Hokulia, Hirata and Katahira tied for medalist honors, but Kamehameha edged Waiakea by two strokes for the team title.
On the girls side, Waiakea sophomore Kaelyn Uchida grabbed her first medalist title with an 84.
In a display of dominance, the next three finishers were her teammates: Jillian Mitsuda, second, 86; Tia Kualii, third, 88; and Kaley Saludares, fourth, 93.
Waiakea, which already repeated as the team champion, finished with a 258 total to run away from Hilo’s 325 total.
The two-round BIIF individual championships will start at 10 a.m. Sunday, April 24 at Hualalai, and the second round on April 26 at Mauna Kea.
Hirata, a senior, is the two-time defending boys champion while Saludares, a sophomore, is the defending girls champion.
