By KEVIN JAKAHI
By KEVIN JAKAHI
Hawaii Tribune-Herald
Waiakea is well ahead of the crowd on the golf course and on and on it went again at Mauna Lani on Wednesday.
The Warriors won by wide margins — 71 strokes by the girls and 57 for the boys — to easily claim the BIIF team titles and wrap up the league championships as well.
In four meets, it was the first clean sweep for the Warriors, who secured medalist honors along the way.
Sophomore Jillian Mitsuda shot an 11-over-par 83 to capture her first BIIF title of the season.
Three teammates followed, showing the depth of Waiakea, the two-time defending BIIF champion. (Hilo won the team crown in 2014.)
Sophomore Tia Kualii was next at 85, followed by juniors Kaley Saludares at 87 and Kaelyn Uchida at 88.
One of the most surprising scores was Keaau junior Anela Dalton’s 88.
She picked up golf as a freshman. In her BIIF debut back in 2015, Dalton shot a 56-over 127 at Hilo Muni, where par is 71. This season, she shot an 85 at the BIIF season opener at Hilo Muni.
Last year at the BIIF individual two-round championships at Hualalai and Mauna Kea, she carded a 60-over total of 204.
Mauna Lani hosts the Hawaii State Open, where a few pros shot 88 last year. It can be a tough course to play, even for pro golfers.
TJ Kua won the event last year with a 4-under two-round total of 137. Among a field of 39, only five golfers shot under par, including former UH-Hilo standout Nick Mason.
Dalton has jumped over tall buildings in her improvement, going from 56-over in her first meet to 60-over at BIIFs to a solid 16-over at Mauna Lani, where she held her own against Waiakea’s competitive young guns.
In fact, Waiakea’s Mari Ebersole didn’t golf at Mauna Lani. Last week, she picked up medalist honors at Volcano.
Everyone in Waiakea blue battles each other at practice to earn one of the four starter spots. Then they take that fire to a BIIF meet, where only Warriors have won this season.
Waiakea finished with a 39-over 255 total. Hilo was next at 326 and followed by Kamehameha at 327.
Meanwhile, senior Shon Katahira continues to live up to his billing as the No. 1 player in the state, according to the National Junior Golf Scoreboard rankings.
The Oregon State commit blistered Mauna Lani with a 5-under 67 to carry the scoring load for Waiakea, which finished with a 313 total.
“Shon played really smart and like an experienced senior with ideal conditions,” Waiakea coach Alika Toledo said. “And at this point, it’s trying to qualify as many players that I can for BIIF individuals.”
There are six team meets, and a golfer needs to compete in at least three matches to qualify for the BIIF individual tourney. Four matches are needed to qualify for states with the top 15 averages securing state berths. (The BIIF’s first round counts as a team meet.)
Kamehameha, the defending BIIF champion, was second at 370 and Hilo third at 344. (Waiakea earned titles from 2004 to ’14, except for 2013 when Hilo won.)
Hilo’s Riley Kaneshiro was second at 73, followed by Waiakea’s Riku Omata, 78; Kamehameha’s John Andrade, 79; Makua Lani’s Matt Rosato, 80; Kamehameha’s Kalai Pomroy and Hilo’s Ethan Hironaga at 82.
There are two team meets left: Monday at Hokulia and Wednesday, April 19 at Kohanaiki.
Then the BIIF individual championships will be held Sunday, April 23 at Hualalai and Tuesday, April 25 at Mauna Kea.
Saludares is the two-time defending BIIF champion. A Warrior has won the last 13 titles, but no one has won four in a row.
BIIF results
Wednesday
Mauna Lani, par 72
Girls team
Waiakea, 255; Hilo, 326; Kamehameha, 327
Individual
Jillian Mitsuda, Waiakea, 83
Tia Kualii, Waiakea, 85
Kaley Saludares, Waiakea 87
Kaelyn Uchida, Waiakea, 88
Anela Dalton, Keaau, 88
Chloe Waters, Kamehameha, 94
Sunny Sakai, Hilo, 102
Brianna Hirata, Hilo, 108
Kara Nagato, Hilo, 116
Tabitha Tomori, Kamehameha, 119
Kayla Enanoria, Kamehameha, 124
Hailey Onaka, Makua Lani, 127
Jyneth Demesa, Hilo, 131
Kelly Chung, Makua Lani, 138
Boys team
Waiakea, 313; Kamehameha, 370; Hilo, 344
Individual
Shon Katahira, Waiakea, 67
Riley Kaneshiro, Hilo, 73
Riku Omata, Waiakea, 78
John Andrade, Kamehameha, 79
Matthew Rosato, Makua Lani, 80
Kalai Pomroy, Kamehameha, 82
Ethan Hironaga, Hilo, 82
Pono Yanagi, Kamehameha, 83
Kody LaGuire, Waiakea, 84
Cody Pinzon, Hilo, 84
Brayden Teshima, Waiakea, 84
Loa Ng, Makua Lani, 91
James Kagawa, Kealakehe, 97
Trey Nakagawa, Waiakea, 99
Lazar Salvador-Smith, St. Joseph, 101
Jody Jamin, Hawaii Prep, 102
Emmett Alcos, Makua Lani, 104
Tyler Kuanoni, Hilo, 105
Jaxon Heitz, HPA, 105
Lillen Pereira-Bloede, Kealakehe, 105
Will Savage, HPA, 109
Kobe Lorenzo, Kealakehe, 120
Damien Miller, Pahoa, 122
Teague Adams, Kamehameha, 126
Travis Chai-Andrade, Kamehameha, 177