Iolani Alumni

The 2008 Napa Ultimate Sports Trivia Challenge got underway this past Monday and there’s quite a few alumni are participating in the event which runs every morning for the next two weeks on ESPN 1420am during The Bobby Curran Show.

The contest challenges the sports trivia knowledge of local residents in a head-to-head format live on the air. Tune in to 1420am at 7:15am every morning to cheer your classmates on… Click here for the full bracket »

Iolani Alumni expected to compete in the 64-player bracket are: Mark Sumikawa ‘88, Brandon Sumida ‘88, Todd Yonamine ‘88, Jim Camacho ‘88, Jimmy Wong ‘88, Rick Takeshita ‘88, Pat Samsonas ‘93 (Please let me know if I missed anyone)

More for you to read from the people that you went to school with… Some professional, some not, yet all entertaining in their own way. Enjoy!

Iolani Alumni - Blogs:
• Prep Talk - Wes Nakama ‘86
• Quarterlife Cafe - Kim Fassler ‘02
• Pulpconnection - Greg Yamane ‘90
• Katsuyoshi.org - Clayton Katsuyoshi ‘92
• Life in Vietnam - Greg Nakajo ‘94
• The Diary of an Enginerd - Ryan Kanno ‘96
• RemyOmar - Remy Hiramoto ‘88
• Straying From the Norm - Michael Ni ‘01

Additions:
• How to Change the World - Guy Kawasaki ‘72
• So Necessary… - Jason Genegabus ‘95
• Bytemarks - Burt Lum ‘73
• Olympic Dream - Taylor Takata ‘00
• The Notebook - Peter Boylan ‘97

If you know of any others, please post them in the comments and I’ll add them to the list. Mahalo!

Add an Iolani Alumni Blog »

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)]

Senior midfielder Kevin Fung (shown, left) was named the ILH Offensive Player-of-the-Year for his all-around performance as both a distributer and scorer (6 goals) in leading the Raiders to the 2007-08 ILH Championship.

Along with Fung, midfielder Brock Granger, forward Blaine Gonsalves, defender Hiroshi Metzker and goalkeeper Christopher Otani were all named to the ILH All-Star First Team. Forward Nick Goo, midfielder Zach Lee and defenders Reid Sakamoto and Eamon Wall were honored as second team selections.

Head Coach Chris Lee ‘88 (shown, right) was named the 2008 ILH Coach-of-the-Year.

View the complete list of 2008 ILH Soccer All-Stars »

[Photos: Honolulu Advertiser]

Congratulations to the Class of 1988 for pulling off such a wonderful event…

With food from 13 different restaurants, an extensive wine and beer collection and top quality entertainment from Herb Ohta, Jr. and Daniel Ho (and Paul Shimomoto ‘86), the 2007 Touch of Iolani lived up to every expectation…

What was your favorite?

Bali By The Sea - Ahi Lemongrass Traps
Big City Diner - Guava BBQ Glazed Baby Back Ribs
Big G’s Catering - Vanilla Bread Pudding Ala Mode
Bubbies - Mochi Ice Cream & Thomas Kemper Root Beer Float
Great Harvest Bread Company - Muffins, Scones, Cookies & Bread
Kimo and Kawika’s Mobile Smoke Wagon - Paniolo Smoked Pork Sandwich
Mariposa - Smoked Salmon Filet
Poke Stop - Poke Trio
Roy’s Restaurant - Braised Beef Shortribs
Sam Choy’s - Red Wine Braised Brisket
Sansei - Fried Shrimp Cake
Tango Contemporary Cafe - Mushroom Risotto
Tiki’s Bar & Grill - Braised Beef on Cornbread Pudding

Leave your comment »
(If this is your first comment, allow some time for it to be moderated.)

“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.)

Event Date: Saturday, August 4th, 2007

Tickets are now available for the 12th Annual - A Touch of Iolani - Courtyard Paina which will feature several of Hawaii’s top restaurants, live entertainment as well as a silent auction.

This year’s event will take place on Saturday, August 4th from 5:00pm to 8:30pm and will feature a live musical performances by Daniel Ho, Herb Ohta, Jr. and 1986 Iolani graduate, Paul Shimomoto.

Restaurants:
Big City Diner
Poke Stop
Roy’s Restaurant
Sam Choy’s Diamond Head Restaurant
Sansei Restaurant & Sushi Bar
ScandinAsian Culinary Concepts (Goran Streng)
Mariposa
Bali-by-the-Sea
Tiki’s Grill
Big G’s Catering (Troy Terorotua & Grant Sims)
Great Harvest Bread Company
Bubbies

Until June 30th, tickets are $55. The regular price is $60. (Reunion Class price $50.) The event is put together by the Iolani Alumni Association and the Class of 1988.

2007 Touch of Iolani Ticket Order Form »

According to Hawaii Business Magazine, three of the 25 people that will shape Hawaii’s future over the next 25 years are graduates of Iolani School. They include:

• Adam Wong ‘94 - Age: 30, Former Owner of the local Great Harvest Bread Company franchises and current Equity Partner with Anekona Real Estate Development
• Maile Shimabukuro ‘88 - Age: 36, State House of Representatives, District 45 (Waianae, Makaha, Makua)
• R. Scott Simon ‘88 - Age: 36, Associate General Counsel with Hawaiian Electric Co.

Read the article in Hawaii Business, “25 People for the Next 25 Years” »

With their best finish in the Iolani Classic (3rd) in several years, the Iolani Raiders gained a spot in the Star Bulletin Poll moving into second behind the Punahou Buff-n-Blu. In case you missed it, the Raiders upset White Station of Memphis, got blown out by Leflore of Alabama, the eventual champion and USA Today #11, and then rebounded in the 3rd place game to beat Vincent of Milwaukee, the #6 ranked team in the Midwest (#1 in Wisconsin).

Still without their starting center, 6-5 Taylor Mounts, the Raiders are continuing to improve and hope to have a full squad back within the next week or two when they open their season against the Kamehameha Warriors on Thursday, January 4th at home.

The Iolani Softball team dropped a spot in the ILH standings with a disappointing 6-0 loss to the Mid Pacific Owls. Coming into the game with a 2-5 record, the Owls scored 5 runs in the second inning and were able to shutout the Raiders to earn their 3rd victory of the season. With a win by St. Francis, the Raiders were pushed into second place behind the Troubadours and are currently a game back.

The Iolani Boys’ Soccer team picked up a win in their ILH season opener against Mid Pacific on Friday, December 22nd. The Raiders got their lone goal from Ian Watson to notch their first ILH victory. The boys team is coached by 1988 Iolani alum Chris Lee.

The Iolani Girls Soccer team is also 1-0 in ILH play with a 3-1 win over Pac-5 in their season opener at Iolani School. The Raider got goals by Sammi Teramae, Nicole Ha and Alyssa Simbahon. The girls’ team is coached by alumnus Chris Nied, Class of 1979.

Mark “Umo” Sumikawa ‘88 (left) and Jim Camacho ‘88 (second left) made it to the final four of the “Napa Ultimate Sports Trivia Challenge” put on by KKEA 1420. Over the course of a few weeks, the duo was able to take down a number of qualified competitors to advance to the “final four” which was held on the rooftop at Dave & Buster’s on August 9th.

“Umo” advanced to the finals, but fell to Royden Muranaka 5-2 who also defeated “Camacho” (finished 4th) in the semfinals. The grand prize was a trip to Tuscaloosa to watch the UH Warriors open their season against Alabama.

In last year’s contest, “Camacho” was again in the final four with fellow classmate Greg Sekiya ‘88, finishing in 2nd and 3rd respectively.

Since September of this year, Remy Hiramoto ‘88 has been keeping the class of 1988 informed about the latest and greatest things going on with his classmates and buddies. He was also gracious enough to post a link to IolaniAlumni.com, so, as you can see, I was more than happy to do the same…

Check it out!

Earlier this year, a small contingent of Iolani alumni went on a two week “business exploration” tour through China where they examined emerging markets in Hong Kong, attended the Canton Fair in Guangzhou and met up with fellow alumnus Sam Lawn ‘96 in Shanghai.

Shown in the photo: (left to right) Derek Ichiyama ‘88, Jimmy Wong ‘88, Greg Sekiya ‘88, Tom Park ‘96, Brad Anderson ‘99, Trevor Benn ‘92, John Hall ‘85, Dean Shimamoto ‘94, Cord Anderson ‘99 and Adam Wong ‘94