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Punahou’s Siko wins
air riflery
Punahou junior Robert Siko scored 520 out of 600 possible points yesterday en route to winning the Interscholastic League of Honolulu boys air riflery individual championship, ending Saint Louis School's chance for a sixth straight individual title.
Returning girls varsity ILH and state individual champion Deana Sin successfully defended her title by scoring 532 and leading Sacred Hearts Academy, which claimed the top four spots in the competition.
The rules for the ILH air rifle individual competition were simple: Each participating school fielded four competitors who had an allotted amount of time to take 20 shots at targets 10 meters away, from three positions -- prone (30 minutes), standing (40 minutes) and kneeling (30 minutes). A bull's-eye was worth 10 points and points were awarded in descending order the farther a mark was from the center. The grading was performed by the coaches of the participating schools. After the points were tallied, there was a 20-minute period during which participants could challenge their scores based on a review of their target and the location of the hole. In addition to overall champions, the three high scorers in each position were awarded placement medals.
Entering the match, Saint Louis' Scott Perez, who finished third overall, led the ILH boys varsity in total points (1,276) and average points (255.2).
"Saint Louis has dominated riflery, much like they have football," Siko said.
Since the inception of the HHSAA championships in 1999, every individual boys champion had been from Saint Louis, and only once had the winner in the girls division not attended Sacred Hearts Academy.
"Saint Louis and Sacred Hearts have a stronger group of shooters," Punahou assistant coach Allan Tokumura said of the ILH team championships that the schools claimed on Oct. 16. "But we have some really strong individuals, and we're closing the gap."
While everyone took a moment to savor their accomplishments, they were aware there were bigger goals to accomplish at the state tournament on Nov. 2.
"Concentration is the single-most-important asset a marksman can have," Mid-Pac coach Desmond Lam said. "This is a sport that requires us to focus on the next shot, not the last."
True to form, Sin was already assessing her team's chances against the best the OIA had to offer.
"Last year's team was more experienced," said Sin, who was the only junior on the 2003 state championship team and the lone senior to place in yesterday's match. "But we have really pushed each other with our performances, and it's made us a lot better."
