The fall state tournament season hits full speed this week. HHSAA state tournaments
hit full strideBy Jason Kaneshiro
jkaneshiro@starbulletin.comAlong with this week's Nissan Boys Volleyball Championship, the Hawaii High School Athletic Association will host the Sam Choy's Bowling Championships tomorrow and Friday at Leeward Bowl. The Honolulu Marathon Cross Country Championship is Saturday at Kauai Community College.
The bowling tournament starts tomorrow with boys play at 8 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. The girls will take the lanes at 11:15 a.m. and 5:45 p.m.
The boys finals open at 8 a.m. Friday. The girls finals are set for 11:15 a.m. Admission is free for both days.
Aiea has won the last three boys bowling championships, while Pearl City is the defending girls champion.
Both teams enter the tournament as OIA champions. Pearl City beat Kalani for the girls title. The Aiea boys team topped Pearl City to win their fourth consecutive league championship.
The tournament was originally set for Schofield Lanes. But with security heightened at military installations, the HHSAA decided to move the event.
The top 175 boys and girls runners will gather on the Garden Isle to compete for the state cross country titles.
The three-mile boys race starts at 9 a.m., while the two-mile girls race starts at 9:45.
Kamehameha has won the last four state boys championships, and Warrior senior Justin Peterson returns to defend his individual crown.
But Peterson has finished a consistent second this season to Punahou's Todd Iacovelli, who was runner-up in last year's championship race, finishing 20 seconds behind Peterson.
Maryknoll's Christal Cuadra is among the favorites in the girls race. Cuadra dominated the ILH season running for Pac-Five.
Punahou has won the last two girls team titles, but lost to Iolani in last week's ILH championship meet at Kamehameha.
The Nissan Girls Volleyball Championship is Nov. 15-17. The three-week Chevron Football Championship starts Nov. 16 with games on Oahu, Kauai and the Big Island.
Record for Matsui: Kamehameha freshman Chani Matsui, 14, set two state records in her weight class at the Hawaii Open Weightlifting Championships on Oct. 27.
Matsui, the youngest competitor in the women's 95-pound class, set a record in the snatch by lifting 99 pounds in the meet held at Ward Warehouse. She also lifted 121 pounds in the clean-and-jerk for a record total of 220 pounds.
Ka'aihue commits: Iolani's Kila Ka'aihue has committed to play baseball for Big 12 champion Nebraska.
Ka'aihue, who is projected to play first base for the Cornhuskers, hit .492 last spring as Iolani's designated hitter. He was an all-state and Interscholastic League of Honolulu first-team selection. He also played quarterback for the Raider football team.
Nebraska won 50 games and advanced to the College World Series last season. Ka'aihue said he also considered Hawaii, Stanford and BYU.
"A lot of it was their history, and they have a good program there," Ka'aihue said.
Ka'aihue said he is planning on attending college, but will not rule out possibilities that might come in next year's Major League Baseball draft.
Ka'aihue joins Kalani graduate Shane Komine in Lincoln. Komine is a two-time All-American and Big 12 pitcher of the year.
Contest extended: The deadline for the OIA-ILH Yearbook drawing for a year of free golf at Olomana Golf Links has been extended to Nov. 23. Entry forms are located in the yearbooks, which will be available at this week's OIA championship games.
The Star-Bulletin's Kalani Simpson contributed to this report
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