Iolani Alumni

Iolani alumnus Jeremy Agno ‘96 was featured yesterday in a Honolulu Advertiser article entitled “Ever-changing routines” that talks about his recent weight loss after reaching the 300 lb mark late last year.

In December, Agno signed up to undergo a 12-week body transformation at Fitness Together, a small workout facility in Manoa Marketplace, adding in weekly workouts and switching to a healthier diet. Since that time, he has lost nearly 70 lbs and now has more energy for activities with his 16-month old daughter and two stepchildren.

Read the article and see the “Before and After” photos »

Taylor Takata ‘00, the top-ranked fighter at 66kg (~145 lbs), will compete for a spot on Team USA at the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing. The US Olympic Trials are set to begin on June 13th in Las Vegas, Nevada.

In order to participate in the Olympic Games, countries must first qualify their weight division by having an athlete place in the top 6 overall based on the results from major tournaments over the course of three years. With a 5th place finish at the 2008 Pan-American Championships, Takata helped the U.S. qualify the 66kg weight class and will now need to finish first at the US Olympic Trials to earn his spot on Team USA.

[Photo: USA Judo]

The 2008 edition of the Ka Mo’olelo O Iolani is entitled Rhapsody and dedicated to longtime Iolani staff member, Mrs. Sue Lee.

Currently the assistant to College Couselor Mr. Todd Fleming, Mrs. Lee served more than a dozen years under his predecessor, Mr. Dan Feldaus, organizing and managing the numerous tasks involved in sending more than 220 students to college each year. Prior to that, she was the familiar voice on the other end of the phone at the school’s main switchboard.

Bookended by state titles in Football (Fall) and Boys Volleyball (Spring), Iolani Athletics marked another successful sports year in 2007-08 with four ILH and two State Championships.

2007-08 ILH Championships:
• Football (Division II), Head Coach Wendell Look ‘78
• Boys Basketball, Head Coach Doc Mugiishi ‘77
• Girls Kayaking, Head Coach Eric Chun (There is no state championship for Kayaking)
• Boys Soccer, Head Coach Chris Lee ‘88

2007-08 State Championships:
• Football (Division II), Head Coach Wendell Look ‘78
• Boys Volleyball, Head Coach Mike Among

2007-08 State Runners-Up:
• Girls Volleyball, Head Coach Jenic Tumaneng
• Boys Soccer, Head Coach Chris Lee ‘88
• Girls Basketball, Head Coach Glenn Takara ‘80
• Girls Swimming, Head Coach Brian Lee

Keoni DeRenne ‘97, an infielder for the York Revolution, spotted his team an early lead with a solo shot to right field in the top of the first inning yesterday to close out a four-game series with the Newark Bears. It was the second home run of the season for DeRenne who has struggled out of the gates this year, batting just .200 and amassing an uncharacteristic 10 fielding errors through his first 24 games.

Coming off of a successful 2007 campaign where he batted .302 with 5 home runs and 36 RBI, DeRenne earned a two week tryout with the Chiba Lotte Mariners (Japan) in the offseason before returning for his second season with the Revolution. York is currently 8-18 and 8.5 games back in the league standings.

More Photos of DeRenne from The York Daily Record »

Co-Athletic Director Carl Schroers will make his return to coaching next season as the new head coach of the Iolani Wrestling program - a position that opened earlier this year when former head coach Yoshi Honda resigned.

As I’m sure many remember, Schroers headed the program in the 80s and 90s, during which time he built Iolani Wrestling into one of the most dominant programs in the state, rivaled only by St. Louis Football. From 1981-2000, Schroers led the Raiders to 17 ILH and 11 state titles including 7 straight from 1988-94. (Todd Los Banos won in 1990 while Schroers was on sabbatical).

Iolani captured its last boys state title in 2003 (Girls - 2005). Punahou won in 2007 and 2008.

Wendell Look, current head coach of the Iolani Football team, will act as Associate Athletic Director during the winter season while Schroers heads the wrestling program.

Iolani senior forward Jaime Smith, the 2-time ILH Player-of-the-Year and 2-time All-State 1st Team selection, has signed a letter of intent to play basketball at UNLV under newly hired head coach Kathy Oliver (former UCLA head coach).

Smith chose UNLV over Northern Arizona, Hawai’i and Utah, and also was recruited by Cal State Northridge and San Francisco. She will now be competing in the same conference as former Iolani standout Hennasea Tokumura ‘06 who just completed her second season at the University of Utah. The two played together in 2005 and 2006.

Smith was also recently named as one of 12 student-athletes to the 2008 HHSAA Hall of Honor (Iolani’s only recipient).

2008 ILH Player-of-the-Year Taylor Mounts, a 6-6 center on the Iolani Boys Basketball team, will take his game to Salem, Oregon next year to play for the Willamette University Men’s Basketball Team. The Bearcats compete in NCAA Division III.

Mounts follows in the footsteps of Iolani alumnus and former Willamette standout Cavan Scanlan ‘92 who played for the Bearcats from 1993-96. Scanlan won a national championship in his freshman season in 1993.

[Photos: Honolulu Advertiser]

Despite fouling on two of his three attempts, senior long-jumper Reid Furukawa recorded one mark of 22 feet, 2 1/4 inches which was good enough to earn him the gold medal at the 2008 Hawaii State Track & Field Championships. He was the only member of the Iolani Boys team to place in the Top 3.

On the girls side, sophomore Jenna Wong and junior Olivia Fatongia each captured bronze medals. Wong finished in third in the 3000 meter run with a time of 10:48.82 while Fatongia earned her medal in the discus with a distance of 119 feet, 2 inches.

I have to admit that when I heard the word that the Iolani Boys Volleyball team pulled the 25-22, 22-25, 25-20 upset on the #1-ranked and previously undefeated Buffanblu, to say that it “made my day” is probably an understatement.

Having faced Punahou on two previous occasions, the Raiders fell in straight sets each time and despite showing some promise late in the second game of the second match, weren’t expected to be the ones hoisting up the trophy come Saturday night.

To be honest, the Iolani boys weren’t even considered a lock to make it to the finals. As an unseeded team, the Raiders needed wins over Mililani, OIA Champion Waianae and ILH rival Kamehameha just to reach the title match against the Buffanblu.

Once there, the Raiders played their best game of the season. Senior Brad Lawson led the way with 28 kills, hitting an astounding .430 and carrying the team in Game 3. The 6-7 Stanford commit recorded half of his kills in the final game (10 from the back row) despite often facing a double or even triple block. The team filled in the rest of the holes, picking up their blocking and digging and playing consistent volleyball to close out the match.

Read the articles: Honolulu Advertiser, Star-Bulletin, Maui News

[Photo: Honolulu Advertiser]

NOTE: Lawson was named Tournament MVP, freshman setter Logan Nowack and libero Skyler Tajima were named to the All-Tournament Team.

Also… if you make it on campus, you might catch Head Coach Mike Among and his fresh new haircut. Buzzzzzzz.

Longtime Iolani coach Clem Hew passed on May 6 at Kuakini Medical Center after suffering a heart attack. He was 77.

Hew was a retired surveyor, a CSgt. Major in the Hawaii National Guard and coached baseball, football and softball over the course of his 45 years at Iolani School.

Hew is survived by wife Jeannette; son Clem Jr. ‘75; daughter Shandra; brother David Hew; sisters Ethel Dong, Pauline Featheran and Patricia Ching; and two grandsons.

Services are Saturday, May 17 at St. Alban’s Chapel (Parking in the structure). Visitation is from 9am to 11am with services to follow. Committal service is at 10am Monday, May 19 at the Hawaii State Veterans Cemetery.

[Source: Star-Bulletin & Iolani.org]

The Iolani Boys Golf team finished in 3rd place at the 2008 Hawaii State Golf Championships which ended yesterday at the Wailua Golf Course on Kauai. Punahou captured the overall team title with a two round total of 589 (combined score of the top 4 golfers).

Junior David Fink (shown) finished in a tie for 11th place with a two-day total of 152 (75-77), 7 strokes off of first place. Senior Robb Inouye ended in a tie for 14th at 154 (77-77).

Eighth-grade standout Lorens Chan, who recently finished 2nd at the Hickam Invitational is not yet eligible for the state tournament.

[Photo: AroundHawaii.com]

Update: Iolani def. Waianae 25-18, 25-20 and advanced to the semifinals tonight against Kamehameha-Oahu at 7:00pm at Kamehameha-Maui. Punahou will face Roosevelt in the other semifinal.

Update: Iolani def. Mililani 25-16, 25-21. The Raiders will face OIA Champion Waianae today in a quarterfinal matchup at 7:00pm at Kamehameha-Maui.

The Iolani Boys Volleyball team will face Mililani in the opening round of the 2008 Hawaii Volleyball State tournament. The game will begin at 5:30pm on the Kamehameha-Maui campus.

As the second place team in the ILH with a record of 12-4, the Raiders are unseeded and will need three big wins to advance to the finals for a potential rematch with top-seeded Punahou. The Buffanblu have won 27 of the 38 state titles in boys volleyball, including the last three. Iolani won in 2004.

View the brackets »

Former University of Utah standout Ed Ta’amu ‘97 is in his second season as a member of the Kansas City Brigade of the Arena Football League. He is listed as a starter at Offensive Guard and a backup at Tight End.

In 2007, the Brigade made their first ever playoff appearance, but have struggled thus far this season and are just 2-8 through their first 10 games.

Watch a video feature on Ta’amu and fellow lineman Larrell Johnson as they talk about their experiences in Arena Football (Click the link to view).

Continue Reading »

Senior Reid Furukawa ‘08 and sophomore Jenna Wong ‘10 captured gold medals at the 2008 ILH Track Championships this past weekend at Kamehameha Schools.

Furukawa won the long jump with a distance of 21 feet, 11 inches. A few weeks ago he captured the gold medal at the prestigious Punahou Invitational and has a personal best of 22 feet, 4 inches, just 2 inches shy of the the Iolani long jump record (22 feet, 6 inches) held by Eddie Kealoha ‘88.

Jenna Wong ‘10 won the 3000 meters with a time of 10:57.93, more than 9 seconds ahead of her closest competitor. She is currently ranked 2nd in the state and, along with Furukawa, will be looking to capture the gold at the 2008 Hawaii State Track & Field Championships on May 16 & 17 at Mililani High School.

At the 2007 State Championships, Furukawa and Wong finished 3rd and 2nd respectively.

[Source: Erin Furukawa '98, Photo: Rick Wo (via Furukawa)]

Kila Ka’aihue ‘02, a power-hitting first baseman for the Northwest Arkansas Naturals (AA affiliate of the Royals), hit a 400-ft bomb over the centerfield fence to bring his league-leading home run total to 10 early in the 2008 season.

Ka’aihue is second in the league in RBI (29) and fifth in slugging percentage (.589) while batting .263 with an on-base percentage of .408. His hitting coach, Tommy Gregg, credits a more disciplined approach for his hot start, saying “He’s still aggressive, but he’s laying off the pitches that he was swinging at in the dirt last year and fastballs up. He’s staying in the strike zone more and swinging at pitches that are his strength.” On the season, Ka’aihue has just 13 strikeouts to his 23 walks.

[Photo: Northwest Arkansas]

Kala ‘03, Kila’s younger brother, hit his first home run of the season yesterday to go along with a double and 4 RBI in a 9-7 comeback win against the West Tennessee Diamond Jaxx of the AA-Southern League. On the season, he is batting just .183 with 36 strikeouts for the Mississippi Braves.