Iolani Alumni

The Iolani Boys Cross Country team claimed the 2008 ILH Championship this past weekend by placing five athletes in the top 10, led by freshman Troy Esaki (second, 17:31) and senior captain Tyler Mulloy (third, 17:38, shown).

Up next for the team will be the Honolulu Marathon Cross Country State Championships which will be held at the Hawaii Preparatory Academy on the Big Island next week.

The Iolani Intermediate Football team captured the 2008 ILH Championship on Saturday afternoon with a 23-6 win over Word of Life at Kozuki Stadium on the Iolani campus.

Iolani finished their season at 6-1 with their only loss coming against Kamehameha (14-13) in the opening game of the season. The Raiders are led by head coach Ivan Suzuki ‘89 and alumni assistants Kevin Manuel ‘95, Greg Young ‘91, Gary Young ‘91, Dean Young ‘89, Eric Perkins ‘96, Blaine Kiyuna ‘93, Nolan Nakamura ‘92, Clint Onigama ‘96, Reinaldo Pacheco ‘98, Kawika Nakoa ‘02, Keone Nakoa ‘04 and Chuckie Nakoa ‘70.

[Photo: Honolulu Advertiser]

Of the 70 Hawaii high school seniors named as semifinalists in the 2009 National Merit Scholarship Program, 36 were from Iolani, a new record for the school. Punahou, by comparison, had the second highest total with 23 semifinalists.

More than 1.5 million high school juniors in nearly 21,000 high schools entered the 2009 program by taking the 2007 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, which served as an initial screen of program entrants.

Semifinalists were named based on their scores and the total number is proportional to the state’s percentage of the national total of graduating seniors.

The previous record for the total number of National Semifinalist in a single year was 33 - held by the classes of 1990, 1991 and 2006. Last year’s graduating Class of 2008 had 32.

See the names of 2009 National Merit Semifinalists »

Having recently been promoted to company president, Daniel Ho ‘91 was the featured profile in last week’s issue of Pacific Business News. As the general manager at Hawaii Self Storage for the last two years, Ho was named to his new position a few months ago and currently oversees development, operations and sales and marketing at the state’s largest locally owned storage chain.

Hawaii Self-Storage has facilities in Salt Lake, Pearl City and Kaimuki and will be opening two new facilities in Mililani and Kapolei this year.

[Source: Pacific Business News]

Of the 68 Hawaii high school seniors that have been named as semifinalists in the 2008 National Merit Scholarship Program, 32 were from Iolani School. The next closest school was Punahou with 17. (This number is even more impressive when you consider that the average class size for Iolani is nearly half than that of Punahou.)

More than 1.4 million high school juniors in nearly 21,000 high schools entered the 2008 program by taking the 2006 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, which served as an initial screen of program entrants. Semifinalists were named based on their scores and the total number is proportional to the state’s percentage of the national total of graduating seniors.

The school record for the total number of National Semifinalist in a single year is 33 - held by the classes of 1990, 1991 and 2006. The Class of 2006 may have surpassed that record, but one of the qualifiers left the school prior to graduation and another was a foreign student who had not yet earned his citizenship which could have put the total at 34 or 35.

See the names of the semifinalists »

“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 graduating from Brown University, Garrett Matsunaga ‘91 went on to the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio to obtain his medical degree, graduating in 2000. Since that time, he has worked in the California area as a urologic surgeon with specialized training in “cutting-edge, minimally invasive laproscopic, robotic and endourologic techniques.”

Dr. Matsunaga will be in Hawaii to assist surgeons at the Queen’s Medical Center in the use of their newly acquired “Da Vinci” system, a “robotic system (that) has been used for a variety of minimally invasive or laparoscopic surgical procedures performed through tiny incisions.” Based on current data, use of the system helps reduce blood loss and pain and significantly speeds up the recovery process.

While at Iolani, Dr. Matsunaga wrestled as a member of the 1990-91 State Championship team. He is currently married to wife Melanie (Dee) and the couple recently celebrated the birth of their first son in November of 2006.

South Bay Urology Medical Group - Physician Profile »
Honolulu Star Bulletin article »

Paul Ah Yat ‘91 (shown, Star Bulletin ‘96), former Triple-A pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates, returned to the baseball diamond on Saturday to play as a member of the UH Alumni team against the ‘07 Bows in the annual “Alumni” game. The turnout, much like the 13-1 result, wasn’t great for the alumni team who fielded a team of only 12 players, 3 of whom were pitchers.

Paul, though, showed he still “got it”, pitching one scoreless inning and going 1-1 with a hit off of UH ace Ian Harrington.

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Listed on the 2007 UH roster is right-handed pitcher Rich Olsen ‘02 who finished the 2006 season with a record of 1-0 with 1 save and an ERA of 1.59. Rich is currently recovering from Tommy John surgery and will miss the entire season.

Event Date: Friday, December 15th, 2006

The Class of 1991 will hold its 15 year reunion this year during a 3-day stretch in mid-December.

Friday, December 15 - Pupus & Drinks at Osake Sushi Bar and Lounge, 6:00pm-9:00pm

Saturday, December 16 - Family Fun Day at Hawaiian Waters Adventure Park, 10:30am-4:00pm

Sunday, December 17 - Golf Tournament at Mililani Golf Course, 11:15am check-in

For more information contact Marc Okumura at 808.441.7103 or email iolani91reunion@yahoo.com.