[ HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETICS ]
Sean Saturnio is looking forward to taking on a new challenge while hanging on to his old job. Saturnio has big plans for
Marauder varsity football teamBy Jason Kaneshiro
jkaneshiro@starbulletin.comSaturnio has been named the new varsity football coach at Waipahu High School. But instead of creating a vacancy for the junior varsity team, which he coached last season, Saturnio plans to handle leadership responsibilities for the entire program.
"It takes a lot of organization, but a lot of good can come out of it," Saturnio said. "We won't have the young guys going against the older guys much in practice, but the terminology will be the same."
Saturnio, an English teacher at Waipahu, led the Marauder JV team to a 5-3 record last year in his first season at the school. He takes over for Todd Fujimori, who coached the varsity for three seasons and guided Waipahu to a 7-1 mark and a second-place finish in the Oahu Interscholastic Association White Conference last season.
Fujimori stepped down due to family obligations, Waipahu athletic director Hartwell Lee Loy said.
Saturnio begins his varsity coaching career by leading the Marauders into the OIA Red Conference.
"It's a big challenge," Saturnio said. "But we'll try to take care of the little things and the big things will take care of themselves."
Baseball season heats up: The pressure is rising for high school baseball teams with hopes of continuing their seasons through the state tourney.
The Interscholastic League of Honolulu double-elimination tournament continues tonight with two games at Aloha Stadium.
The winners of yesterday's elimination games (Kamehameha vs. Pac-Five and St. Louis vs. Punahou) face each other at 4 p.m. Iolani and Mid-Pacific, the only undefeated teams left in the tournament, meet at 7.
The winner of the Iolani-MPI game earns a spot in the tournament championship game scheduled for 7 p.m. Saturday at Aloha Stadium. The loser plays the winner of tonight's first game in an elimination contest at 6 p.m. tomorrow at Ala Wai Field.
Kamehameha has already secured a berth in the state tournament by winning the regular-season championship.
The OIA regular season closes today with Aiea hosting Waianae for the OIA Western Division championship at 4 p.m. Na Alii enter the game at 8-0, while Waianae is 7-1.
Roosevelt can clinch the OIA East title with a win over Moanalua today. The Rough Riders are 7-2 and tied with Kahuku and Kailua for first in the division. But Roosevelt holds the head-to-head tiebreaker over both teams.
The OIA tournament runs May 8-11.
ILH golfers make the cut: Kamehameha's Christian Akau and Mari Chun lead the list of qualifiers for today's finals of the ILH varsity individual golf championships at Waialae Country Club.
The finals start at 9 a.m.
Akau shot a 5-under-par 66 in Monday's qualifying round at Oahu Country Club to top the boys standings. Iolani's Matthew Ma followed with a 67. The top 20 qualifiers advanced to the finals.
Chun carded a 3-over-par 76 to lead the list of eight girls who moved on to the finals. Kayla Morinaga of Sacred Hearts was second with a 78.
Track championships on tap: The OIA track and field championships open at 4 p.m. tomorrow at Mililani's track with the event trials. The finals are set for 2 p.m. Saturday.
Mililani has won the last three OIA boys championships, while the girls have won the last four league titles.
The state championships are set for May 9 and 11 at Mililani.
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