Iolani Alumni

Don’t wait… get your Touch of Iolani tickets now! Tomorrow may be the last day of the month, but today is your last chance to call the Alumni Office and purchase your tickets for the discounted price of $55. (They don’t work on Saturday.)

Not only will you be saving yourself five bucks, but you’ll also be reserving yourself a spot at the popular summer event that usually sells out weeks before the actual weekend date (Saturday, August 4th).

For those unfamiliar with the event, know this… the Touch of Iolani is the ONLY event all year that allows the public to consume alcohol on campus. Beyond that, attendees will also have the opportunity to sample food from several of the island’s hottest restaurants and have the chance to pick up a nice little gift at the silent auction.

More information about the 2007 Touch of Iolani »

“Roll Call” is the latest addition to the Iolani Community to help promote the businesses owned, run or managed by Iolani Alumni. Each edition will focus on one particular industry with the hope of locating (with your help) every alumnus that earns their living within that industry. The “Roll Call” will begin with a few familiar names to get things started, but it’ll be up to you to help finish the list.

If you know of any alumni missing from the list… Please leave a comment with their name and class.

• Trevor Benn ‘92 - Principal Broker, Benn Pacific Real Estate
• Greg Andrasick ‘92 - Benn Pacific Real Estate
• Jason Nishikawa ‘89 - Vice-President, Marcus & Associates
• Kevin Nishikawa ‘88 - Vice-President, Marcus & Associates
• Chad Takesue ‘94 - Prudential Locations
• James Chan ‘98 - Prudential Locations
• Scott Fujiwara ‘88 - Principal Broker, Island Realtors
• Denise Miyahira ‘88 - Island Realtors
• Corey Kawai ‘88 - Island Realtors

(Note: Your first comment will need to be moderated, so it may not show up right away, but once one has been accepted, you’ll be able to post in real-time after that.)

After leading the Raiders to a 12-5 record and a second place finish in the ILH, head coach Dean Yonamine ‘83 was named the 2007 ILH Coach of the Year and six Iolani players were recognized as all-stars on the first and second teams.

The Raiders were represented on the first team by sophomore first baseman Reyn Nagamine, senior third baseman Case Miyahira, junior outfielder Lionel Fujioka and junior pitcher Kelsey Outram. Junior second baseman Brennan Nacario and sophomore pitcher J.R. Bunda were named to the second team.

See the complete list of 2007 ILH All-Stars »

[Photo: Honolulu Advertiser]

Kawahara 39, Takesue 38
High Scorers: Dean Nakagawa 12, Dean Shimamoto 11

Pacheco 49, Downie 41
High Scorers: #40 Downie 14, #33 Downie 10

Notes: Roster for Downie and Pacheco were not complete, so names could not be determined.

Tanaka 71, Suzuki 22
High Scorers: John Stepien 20, Josh Obrey 20, Doug Lange 17, Micah Banton 12

Ferris 37, Lim 34
High Scorers: Danny Coda 17, Brent Kitsu 11, Tyler Hee 14

Hirata 53, Shimizu 34
High Scorers: Daniel Adachi 11

With the shift of the girls basketball season from the spring to the winter, the Iolani Prep Classic will expand to include an 8-team girls division which will feature three teams from the mainland and five from Hawaii. The girls bracket will open a few days earlier and run from December 13-15, 2007.

Though in its inaugural year (for the girls), the Prep Classic has already received commitments from two of the top teams in California, one of which is a perennial contender on the national level.

2007 Iolani Classic - Girls Division Roundup »

The nationally recognized boys tournament will still go on during its scheduled time on the week of December 17th. The list of teams has not been finalized, but the 16-team field is expected to be as exciting as always with several of the top teams from around the country competing for the title. Coming up on its 24th year, the Classic has seen several major additions is recent years with the inclusion of a Division II tournament in 2005 and the 8-team girls bracket this season. Can’t wait to see what’s to come for the 25th anniversary in 2008…

Kawahara 43, Chun 32
High Scorers: Dave Chun 14

Pacheco 42, Kuioka 36
High Scorers: Kawika Nakoa 18, Ben Karnuth 16, Travis McGaughy 14

Shimabukuro 42, Young 33
High Scorers: Ryan Roberts 14, Greg Young 13

UPDATE: Kila hit his 1st home run in Double-A on Thursday, going 3-4 with 3 RBI.

After earning the Carolina League Player of the Week award in mid-May and batting just over .300 in his last 166 at-bats, Kila Ka’aihue ‘02 was promoted to the Royal’s Double-A affiliate, the Wichita Wranglers prior to their game on Sunday, June 17.

At the time, the first baseman was leading the team in home runs (9) and RBI (42) and coming on strong after a slow start (2-41) in the month of April.

This will be Kila’s second go-round with Wichita as he spent time with team during 2006 but struggled (.199 batting average) due to a lingering knee injury. Through his first 3 games this season, he is batting .333 (4-12) as the team’s first baseman and designated hitter.

[Photo: BlueRocks.com]

Hirata 50, Lim 37
High Scorers: Tyler Hee 11, Matt Smith 10, Sean Agustin 10

Ferris 42, Walthall 38
High Scorers: Brent Kitsu 13, Derek Ching 11, Ryan Kanno 10

Long time basketball coach (and part time security guard) Bernie Ching will be honored tonight at the 2007 Na Hoku Hanohano Awards with a Lifetime Acheivement Award as a member of the legendary Hawaiian music group “The Surfers“.

The Hawaii Academy of Recording Arts, organizers of the award show, will recognize the group for their contributions to the Hawaiian music scene as renowned performers in Hawaii and on the mainland. Past winners of the award include Alfred Apaka, Gabby Pahinui, Peter Moon, Hui ‘Ohana and Palani Vaughan among many others.

The show will air live tonight (June 20th) at 7:30pm on K5.

With the backing of Island Movers’ chairman Don Takaki and the support of HHSAA executive director Keith Amemiya, a group of Hawaii’s top female basketball players known as Team Hawaii will travel to the “Land of the Rising Sun” today to compete in six games against teams from Hiroshima and Osaka from June 20-30.

The team includes three players from Iolani - recent graduate Alana Matayoshi ‘07 and seniors Jamie Smith and Chanel Hirata - and is coached by Bob Morikuni ‘90 and assisted by Brandon Flores ‘90. In 2007, the duo led the McKinley Tigers to the Boys State Division II Championship and the Girls OIA White Division East Championship.

Five of the six games will be played against high schools from Japan who will be participating in the their postseason regional and national tournaments when Team Hawaii arrives. The exhibition matches have been inserted into the current tournament schedules with the Japanese teams making special accomodations to compete despite being in the final stretch of their seasons.

View the 2007 Team Hawaii Roster »

[Photo: Jon B Photography]

Morikuni 47, Young 41
High Scorers: Mark Watanabe 15, Gavin Sugihara 14, Brandon Flores 12, Al Inaba 12

Tanaka 57, Chun 32
High Scorers: John Stepien 18, Kanoa Leahey 18, Josh Obrey 11, Scott Laboy 11

Shimizu 38, Kuioka 31
High Scorers: Leo Shimizu 12, Daniel Adachi 10, Neil Kuioka 9

Training out of the USA Judo National Training Site in Harlingen, Texas, Taylor Takata ‘00 earned gold medals in his final two competitions leading up to the 2007 Pan American Games in mid-July.

In El Salvador on June 11, Takata picked up his first gold at the II Copa Yaniro Ramos Vigil, his first competition since finishing second at the 2007 Senior Nationals in April.

He followed that up with a second gold medal last week at the FEDOJUDO International Cup in Santo Domingo where he faced his 2006 Senior National opponent Nate Torra in the 66kg final. With a penalty each at the end of five minutes, the match went into overtime where Takata threw Torra for the win.

[Photo: USA Judo]

An 8th grader at Iolani School, Lorens Chan made his run at becoming the youngest player ever to win the prestigious Manoa Cup, playing his way into the semifinals before falling to the eventual champion. The 13-year-old was the talk of the tournament as he advanced to the quarterfinals with a 6 and 5 win over Maryknoll graduate Ryan Hironaka, holing an eagle-3 from 245 yards on the 13th hole to end the day.

In the quarterfinal round, Chan took down defending champion Jonathan Ota 3 and 1 to move on, but fell in the semifinals to Kurt Nino (2-up) who went on to win the title.

Iolani junior David Fink also advanced to the quarterfinals, but was defeated in 19 holes by Edward Stenftenagel who lost to Nino in the finals.

Read more from the Star Bulletin »

[Photo: Star Bulletin]