Iolani Alumni

Southern Utah pitcher Kelsey Outram ‘08 (left) and LMU infielder Case Miyahira ‘07(right) were selected as 2009 HCBL (Hawaii Collegiate Baseball League) All-Stars as voted by league coaches, personnel and local MLB Scouts.

In eight appearances for the Waimea Waves, Outram holds a record of 1-0 with a league-leading five saves and an ERA of 2.70.

Miyahira is batting .308 in 16 games for the Waimea Waves with six doubles and seven RBI. He is also among the league leaders in walks with 11.

The Waves are currently in 1st place in the league standings at 13-5.

SIDE NOTE: After a rough first outing, Kansas pitcher Wally Marciel ‘06 has rebounded with two strong starts going 5.2 innings in each appearance and giving up just 4 earned runs (total).

‘Iolani School has purchased 5.5 acres of land adjacent to its campus from Lum Yip Kee, Ltd. and Lum Chang Tai, Inc. for $23 million.

“The property has the long-term potential for addressing the needs of the school and the students we serve. It provides the next generation of leaders and educators an opportunity to think more expansively about our future,” said Headmaster Val Iwashita. While some conceptual plans exist, nothing has been finalized. The school has no plans to increase enrollment.

“Any potential development of this property is still years away,” emphasized Iwashita. “When the time comes to develop this property, we plan to begin along the 1.9 acre corridor between the school campus and Laau Street, and the vacant lot on the corner of Date and Laau Street,” explained Iwashita. “Most of the housing units will therefore remain in place for the long term.”

The master lease and the subleases covering the leasehold improvements all expire Dec. 4, 2012.

More from Iolani.org »

The 14th Annual A Touch of ‘Iolani is SOLD OUT. More than 900 tickets have been purchased for the ‘Iolani Alumni Association’s flagship event, which will take place on Saturday, August 1, 2009.

Take a look at the menu:

• Sonoran seared ahi w/ warm flat bread and avocado poke from Azul at J.W. Marriott Ihilani Resort and Spa
• Seared ahi on a bed of mixed greens topped with crispy won ton chips & soy vinegarette from Big City Diner
• Mochi ice cream and Thomas Kemper soda floats from Bubbies Ice Cream
• Pumpkin chocolate muffins and oatmeal chocolate chip cookies from Great Harvest Bread Co.
• Hoisin glazed chicken w/ edamame and lup cheong orzo from Prince Court Restaurant at the Hawaii Prince Hotel
• Signature red velvet cupcake w/ cream cheese frosting from Hokulani Bakery
• Curried yogurt crusted salmon, cherry tomato, cucumber, and chick pea salad from Mariposa
• Thai style red curry w/ chicken and vegetables served with jasmine rice from Panya Bistro
• Grilled meat loaf, truffled potato puree, roasted mushroom demi glaze from Roy’s Restaurant
• Korean style tacos w/ kim chee slaw from Sansei Seafood Restaurant & Sushi Bar
• Duck confit on risotto cake, thyme jus from Tango Contemporary Café

For more information about the 2009 A Touch of `Iolani, visit www.iolanialumni.com/toi or follow them on Twitter at www.twitter.com/touchofiolani.

Raeceen Woolford ‘03 was crowned the 2009 Miss Hawaii in the coveted scholarship competition, beating out 29 other contestants from across the state.

The Iolani School graduate holds a degree in Health Studies from the University of Hawaii at Manoa where she competed for five years on the women’s volleyball team.

Woolford is applying to graduate schools to obtain an advanced degree in public health and plans to become a doctor.

Woolford goes on to compete in the Miss America pageant Jan. 30 at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas.

More from the Honolulu Advertiser »

[Photo: Honolulu Advertiser]

Former Honolulu Advertiser writer Peter Boylan ‘97 left a few days ago for Washington D.C. to become the chief spokesperson for U.S. Senator Daniel Inouye.

Boylan has been a part of the Advertiser staff for the last six years covering law enforcement, City Hall and the state Legislature while also earning his MBA (with honors) from the Shidler College of Business at the University of Hawaii.

More about Boylan from the Honolulu Advertiser »

`Iolani School strength coordinator Dominic Ahuna ‘93 broke three state records last weekend at the Aloha State Games held at Ward Warehouse. (His first ever event.)

Competing in the 231+ weight category, Ahuna recorded lifts of 286lbs in the snatch and 343lbs in the clean and jerk, each state records, along with a total lift of 629lbs which also set a state mark.

Note: Ahuna is in charge of the in and off-season strength and conditioning for all sports programs at `Iolani School. He is also the owner and operator of Sports Training Hawaii LLC.

Olivia Fatongia ‘09 and Keiko Akamine ‘09 were named 2009 high school All-Americans by Wrestling USA Magazine.

Fatongia was a two-time 220-pound state champion in 2008 and 2009. Akamine captured state titles in 2007 and 2008 at 103, but fell short of third straight title last season after battling the flu throughout the state tournament.

In the fall, Fatongia will attend the University of Hawaii at Manoa while Akamine will head east to Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

Paisley Yamashita, the daughter of Corey ‘93 and Jenn Yamashita, received national coverage when her YouTube video was shown on Access Hollywood during an interview with American Idol runner-up Adam Lambert. The video shows the 15-month old screaming for mommy to play a clip of her favorite idol “A-Dum” on the iPhone. Watch it here »

From Iolani.org: Some longtime members of the ‘Iolani School Board of Governors have recently retired from their positions on the board, while new members were elected. The changes were announced in a letter to faculty and staff from James Kawashima ‘60, chairman of the ‘Iolani School’s Board of Governors, and Headmaster Dr. Val Iwashita ‘67.

To replace these valued members, the board elected five outstanding individuals who are all committed to ‘Iolani and bring talent, expertise and vision to their new roles. The new board members include:

• Mr. Melvin Kaneshige ‘66 has been a long-standing supporter of the school. He received an A.B. degree from Harvard and a J. D. degree from the University of Pennsylvania. He was a practicing attorney from 1975 to 1995, after which he joined the Outrigger Hotels, serving as Executive Vice President, Real Estate and Development, for the Outrigger Enterprises Group since 1995. His two children are ‘Iolani graduates, Pace ‘05 and Tate ‘08.
• Dr. Calvin Oishi ‘79 has assisted several ‘Iolani athletic teams on medical issues for many years. He matriculated to Pomona College and earned his M.D. degree from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine. He is one of the foremost orthopedic surgeons in the State.
• Mrs. Lisa Sakamoto is an active ‘Iolani parent (sons Jeffrey ‘09 and John ‘12) who received a BBA from UH-Manoa and an MBA from New York University. She is a CPA and currently serves as the Diocesan Finance Officer for the Roman Catholic Church in the State of Hawaii.
• Dr. Cathy Bell ‘87 is a practicing child psychiatrist and was educated at Yale University and the UH School of Medicine.
• Mr. Mark Yamakawa ‘74 serves as the Executive Vice President/Chief Operating Officer for The Queen’s Health Systems. He received his BS degree in Industrial Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley and an MBA from UH-Manoa. His two children are ‘Iolani graduates, Rachel ‘02 and Robyn ‘05. He is also the 2009 recipient of the Alumni Service Award.

More Information »

Last week, Amy Hanaiali’i took home a Hoku Award for Contemporary Album of the Year. And on Saturday, June 27, you can hear her live—FREE—at ‘Iolani School!

Join us as the ‘Iolani Alumni Association presents a special evening with award-winning vocalist Amy Hanaiali’i. Bring a blanket, your dinner, and your family and friends for what promises to be a wonderful evening of contemporary and traditional Hawaiian music. The dancers of Halau ‘Iolani will also perform several numbers with Amy.

Visit Amy’s MySpace page at www.myspace.com/amyhanaialii

The concert begins at 5:30 pm. Parking is available in the Kamoku Street parking structure and La’au Street. For more information contact Mike Moses at mmoses@iolani.org or 943-2309.

Three players from Iolani School will be on opening day rosters for the Hawai’i Collegiate Baseball League which is back for a fifth season, starting June 12 at Patsy Mink Central O’ahu Regional Park.

Wally Marciel ‘06, a junior left-handed pitcher at Kansas, is coming off of Tommy John surgery and will play for the Oahu Paddlers.

LMU infielder Case Miyahira ‘07, who redshirted last season after transferring from Occidental University, will be a part of the Waimea Waves along with Kelsey Outram ‘08 who just completed his freshman year at Southern Utah.

Each of the six teams — made up of current local and Mainland college players — will play a 35-game regular season schedule followed by a championship tournament, July 25 through July 28. A “Scouts Day,” when players will be tested and evaluated by professional scouts, will be held July 3 and an All-Star Game is scheduled for July 4.

From the Honolulu Advertiser: Senior pitcher Brittney Guro ‘09 and head coach Lance Watanabe were named 2009 ILH Player and Coach of the Year for the Raiders who finished as the top team in the ILH.

Guro, a right-hander, allowed only one earned run all season and had 110 strikeouts in 94 innings in leading ‘Iolani to a 13-1 regular-season record. She pitched three one-hitters, four two-hitters, two three-hitters, one four-hitter and two five-hitters.

Guro was joined on the ILH all-star first team by three other Raiders: first baseman Shanna Tashiro, third baseman Kim Souza and shortstop Jana Tokuhama. Junior Kryn Masutani was named to the second team.

See all of the 2009 ILH Softball All-Stars »

Junior libero Scott “Scooter” Sakaida was the lone member of the ‘Iolani Boys Volleyball team named to the 2009 ILH All-Star first team after helping the Raiders to a third place finish in the ILH and a berth in the state tournament.

Senior outside hitter David Fink and sophomore setter Logan Nowack were named to the 2nd Team.

Side Note: ‘Iolani graduate Teoni Obrey ‘92 was named the 2009 ILH Division II Co-Coach of the Year after leading Hawaii Baptist Academy to an ILH and State Championship last season.

See all of the 2009 ILH Boys Volleyball All-Stars »

[Source & Photo: Honolulu Advertiser]

From the Honolulu Advertiser: George Weeks ‘86, who has coached Kalani High’s girls basketball team the past two seasons, has been named boys basketball coach at Hawaii Baptist Academy.

Weeks guided the Falcons to an Oahu Interscholastic Association championship in 2008 and a third-place finish this past season.

Weeks also is the former boys varsity basketball coach at Menlo School (Calif.) from 1999-2004, where he led the Knights to one league title, two runner-up finishes and to the California Interscholastic Federation Central Coast Sectional quarterfinals and semifinals during his tenure.

The start date for the 2009 Iolani Alumni Basketball League is closing in, so get your team together, pull your jerseys out of storage, dust off the kicks and grab the Icy-Hot because the first set of teams will take the court in less than a week.

Check the Schedule »

From Monday, June 15th until Thursday, July 23rd, 18 teams representing more than 29 years of alumni will compete for the coveted Iolani Alumni Basketball League title.

Twenty-eight seniors (more than 10%) in the Class of 2009 have been honored as Valedictorians for the exemplary academic record over the course of the last four years. As a group, their average cumulative GPA was 4.28.

• Julia Zhang – Johns Hopkins University
• Robert Tamai – Harvard University
• Diana Lu – University of Pennsylvania
• Sean Yancey – Brown University
• Jeffrey Kwock –University of Hawaii, Regents Scholarship
• Zachery Simao – Yale University
• Uyanga Tsedev – Harvard University
• Jeffrey Sakamoto – University of Southern California, Trustees Scholarship
• Jessica Lynn Saylors – Princeton University
• Amy Ko – Amherst College
• Grant Iwamoto – Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Eve Tang – UC Los Angeles
• Jana Tokuhama – University of Southern California
• Rance Fujiwara – Creighton University
• Marrisa Sakoda – UC Berkeley
• Lianne Ho – Tufts University
• Celia Ou – Amherst College
• Qingyun Liao – Washington University in St. Louis
• Amelia Linsky – Middlebury College
• Elysia Gabe – Lewis and Clark College
• Craig Yugawa – Brigham Young University, Provo
• Kai Yu Chen – New York University
• Emily Kuo – University of Pennsylvania
• Samuel Wechsler – Vanderbilt University
• Alyssa Alysson Ochiai – UC Los Angeles
• Thanh Vu – University of Miami
• Elysse Tom – University of Washington, Honors College
• Giulia Anderson – University of Washington

Why so many? To select their valedictorians, Iolani determines the lowest possible GPA of the students who only received As throughout their high school career (regardless of Honors or AP classes) and sets that as a baseline. All students with cumulative GPAs above the baseline are considered valedictorians.

(In theory, the baseline GPA could be set at 4.0 if a given student took no Honors or AP courses but earned all-As. In that case, all students with GPAs above 4.0, even those who didn’t get all As, but took Honors and AP courses, would be considered valedictorians.)