Waiakea High girls, Kamehameha Schools Hawai‘i boys and girls, St. Joseph School girls and Hilo High boys all represented the Big Island in the Hawaii High School Athletic Association (HHSAA) Sporter Air Rifle State Championship match on Tuesday at Neal Blaisdell Center in Honolulu.
Waiakea junior Francis Dela Cruz was the top individual performer of the group, winning the girls competition with a season-high 640.3 total points.
The victory comes after a 30th-place finish at state last season.
“I learned to just take your time. You have to find what’s working and stick with it,” Dela Cruz told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.
Dela Cruz was close with her top competition early, but separated herself from the pack after the standing and kneeling intervals, scoring 175 and 183 in those frames, respectively. In the final round, she shot two 10-pointers to officially claim the state title.
“It was right after standing (and prone positions). That’s when I was like, I might actually do something. After kneeling, wow, I’m actually doing really good,” Dela Cruz added. “Finals, I’m so glad I got to shoot next to Danica (Fujimoto of KSH).
“She’s the sweetest person ever. I’m really glad I got the opportunity to shoot in the finals at states.”
Fujimoto, a sophomore, finished right behind Dela Cruz with a 634.5 score for a second-place finish, officially putting the Big Island at the top of the rankings.
In the boys individual competition, Vikings’ Kuhio Haili-Mizumoto was the top finisher from the Big Island Interscholastic Federation (BIIF) — placing sixth overall and posting 617.6 total points.
Karch Cho-Tupua of Mid Pacific won the entire competition with a score of 629.7.
On the team side of things, Hilo placed fifth in the boys competition with 2,024 collective points, with KSH finishing right behind in seventh with 2,014. Kaiser won the entire event with a score of 2,101.
KSH placed silver in the girls event with a 2,103 cumulative tally, with Pearl City placing first overall with 2,129.
Behind Fujimoto, KSH’s girls team was supported by Amy Gushiken (520-13), Jillian Lum (522-6) and Lauren Kamauu (503-11).
KSH wass the only BIIF school to enter a full, four-member team in the girls’ competition. Waiakea was one head short, entering three.
Hilo also entered three girls — led by No. 14 Sarah Mukai (531-16).
The official results from Tuesday can be found on Page B2.
