Taamu discus wows 'em
By Pat Bigold
Star-Bulletin
Ed Taamu's season-opening discus throw of 181 feet and 2 inches stunned observers at the Interscholastic League of Honolulu meet at Punahou last weekend.Taamu, the 1996 state discus champion and the Star-Bulletin's football all-state defensive player of the year, is being called, "the best discus thrower this town has ever seen," by none other than the man whose state discus record has held up for 30 years.
"He should reach 190 and could go over 200 feet at the state meet at Kaiser," said Tim McAndrews, whose state meet record of 1967 was 177-51/2. Although Taamu threw farther than that, state records can only be set at the state meet.
"No one has ever thrown that far (181-2) at Alexander Field at a meet," said McAndrews.
"And just think that he did this in early March. I threw my record in May."
He said Taamu's distance could be among the better performances in the nation at this early stage.
McAndrews said he was amazed at Taamu's consistency. He estimates the Raiders' 6-foot-1, 300-pound athlete warmed up with throws of 183 to 184 feet.
"His first throw of last year was 161 and he ended up with a state championship of 174," McAndrews said. "I knew he would be very talented this year, based on what he did last year. But doing it in a meet this early, under pressure, is rare."
McAndrews, whose state shot put record of 58-61/2 is 30 years old, knows exactly what sets Taamu apart from the competition.
"His release is picture-perfect and the flight of his discus is aerodynamically efficient," said McAndrews. "The length of Ed's arms makes it travel farther. It has a longer time to accelerate before the release. He can efficiently transfer the force he creates over a longer period of time."
But Taamu, who plans to play football for the University of Utah, had nothing scientific to say about his accomplishment last Saturday.
"It's just more of a blessing from heaven," he said.
UCLA GETS CRABB: Punahou's Kaione Crabb, the 1996 state shot put champion, has made a verbal commitment to accept a track and field scholarship to UCLA.
He is the only athlete in the islands known to receive a Division I scholarship in this sport.
The 6-foot-5, 270-pound Crabb, who opened his season with a 56-foot-71/2-inch heave in a meet at Punahou last weekend, said the Bruins already have him on a weight-training regimen.
He said he hopes to become the first Hawaii shot putter to reach 60 feet this spring.
Crabb played defensive line for the ILH runner-up Buffanblu football team last season. The Arizona, Brigham Young, UCLA and Oregon State football programs showed interest in him but Crabb had set his goals in track and field.
The first two years of Crabb's scholarship are partial and he will redshirt his first year.
GIRLS TOUGH IN ILH GOLF: Girls have place second and first individually in the last two ILHgolf matches.
On Saturday, Anna Umemura of Punahou shot a 71 to finish second at the Ewa International Golf Club.
Two days later, Kamehameha's Elisha Au fired a 70 at the Kalakaua course to share first place honors with Punahou's Ian MacNaughton. Umemura was only three strokes behind.
Au was the 1996 girls' state champion while Umemura won girls' state titles in 1994 and 1995.