Iolani Alumni

Team Shimamoto captured the 2008 Iolani Alumni League “A” Division Championship with a final record of 4-2, one game ahead of second place finishers Team Tanaka (’94/’95) and Team Hirata (’03/’04).

Team Shimamoto: Corey Yamashita ‘93, Dean Shimamoto ‘94, Adam Wong ‘94, Cord Anderson ‘99, Joe Udell ‘02, Bricen McCartney ‘08, Berton Wong ‘08, Taylor Mounts ‘08 (Not Pictured: Dean Shin ‘93, Travis Grobe ‘00)

Final Four Schedule: Friday, July 25
• 7:00pm - Downie ‘97 vs. Shimizu ‘06
• 7:50pm - Chun ‘80 vs. Pacheco ‘98

Third place and championship games will be played on Saturday, July 26 at 5:00 and 5:50 pm.

Kainoa ‘99 and Teoni Obrey ‘92, both standout athletes during their time at Iolani, were each named the 2007-08 ILH Boys Volleyball Coach-of-the- Year in their respective divisions… but not for the Raiders.

Teoni was the head coach at Hawaii Baptist Academy, the 2008 ILH and State Division II Champions. HBA captured the ILH crown with a record of 10-4 and went on to win the state championship, defeating Hilo in the finals (25-13, 25-16). They did not lose a game in the state tournament.

Kainoa was named the ILH Division I Co-Coach-of-the-Year along with Punahou’s Rick Tune for his role in leading the Mid-Pacific Owls to an 11-5 record in the ILH. The underdog Owls posted upset wins over Kamehameha and eventual state champion Iolani.

During his time at Iolani, Kainoa was an All-State performer in baseball and a three year letterman in volleyball. He went on to play baseball at BYU and was later drafted to the St. Louis Cardinals in 2003.

[Photos: Honolulu Advertiser]

Danny Kimura ‘97 hit 3 HOME RUNS IN ONE INNING back on May 13, 1997 in an ILH regular season game against the Damien Monarchs. Unbelievable?… Believe it.

Kimura, a pitcher and 3rd baseman for the Raiders, was named the 1996 Hawaii State Player-of-the-Year and a first team all-state selection in 1997 when he hit .534 with 9 home runs and 35 RBIs and was 4-0 with 2 saves.

The 1997 Iolani Baseball Team finished the season with a record of 23-1, winning their second consecutive state championship (of three) and earning a #6 ranking by Baseball America and a #17 ranking in the USA Today Top 25.

Other members of the 1997 team: Arizona All-American and minor-leaguer Keoni Derenne, freshman All-American and UH standout Gregg Omori, UH pitcher Ryan Yamamoto, BYU stars Kainoa Obrey and Doug Jackson as well as ILH standouts Corin Korenaga, Thad Estrada, Scott Tajima, Jeff Iwashita, Erik Yamamoto, Kanoa Fong & Mike Colosimo

Since the release of their first album in 2005, Def Tech has become one of the hottest musical duos in all of Japan reaching the top of the national charts with sales exceeding 1.5 million records and performing in the country’s largest venues including the MTV Video Music Awards Japan in 2005 and 2006.

This year, the group’s third album, “Catch a Wave” (released April 26, 2006) is nominated for “Best Album of the Year” at the MTV Video Music Awards Japan 07. Other nominees for the award include popular US artists Daniel Powter and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. The show will air on May 26, 2007 (in Japan).

Def Tech is a Jawaiian Reggae vocal unit comprised of two members, Shen (Shenan Brown ‘99 - shown, right) and Micro, a Japan-native and avid surfer. Together the group perform a unique style of music heavily influenced by the Jawaiian (Jamaican-Hawaiian) beats and vocals that were popular in Hawaii during the early to mid-90s. Listen for yourself…

More Def Tech Videos »

After graduating from Santa Clara University in 2003, Cord and Brad Anderson ‘99 (shown, Star Bulletin) have since moved into the “family” business joining their father Brian as partners in Anekona LLC, a real estate development firm which has been featured in the press as of late for their purchase and planned renovation of the historic Ilikai Hotel.

Former 1998 Hawaii State Basketball Co-Players of the Year (along with Kirk Uejio ‘98), Cord (center) and Brad (left) are now part of the management team for Anekona and oversee several of the company’s current projects which includes The Ilikai as well as The Regency on BeachWalk, the Kauai Beach Resort and the W Hotel in Honolulu.

Read the Honolulu Star Bulletin article, “Andersons tackle Ilikai Renovation” »

Throughout this amazing journey they call life, James Chan ‘98 (shown left), a realtor-associate with Prudential Locations, and Erik Yamamoto ‘99 (shown right), a teacher at Iolani School, learned that “there is much more to the affable essence of a permanent smile in the ocean than forcing your favorite board in unfavorable conditions.” So, in order to maximize the “fun”, the pair along with a friend, Chad Sakumoto (Punahou), created their own company to shape boards that’ll keep you smiling and enjoying life.

Walk Fantastic, an idea, a dream, a reality; to create boards that maximize fun with an eye to soul, style, and function. Handling customers as their friends, there is a piece of each of their hearts in all of their original shapes because in the end it comes down to one truth: In surfing and in life, You Gotta Walk Fantastic!

After finishing his senior season as one of only three running backs in California history to eclipse the 1,000 yard mark, Joe Igber ‘99, in much the same manner as Barry Sanders, the back that many likened his running style to, walked away from football. He didn’t have to (he did have offers to attend NFL camps)… he wanted to.

You see, football wasn’t even the reason Joe chose Cal… He chose the respected university for its strong architecture and engineering programs. In 2003, Joe graduated with a degree in civil engineering and then went on to get a master’s degree in structural engineering.

Joe Igber is now a part of FTF Engineering, a structural engineering firm located in San Francisco.

Brian Anderson, president of Anekona Real Estate Development, son of local politician and businessman “Andy” Anderson, and father of twins Cord ‘99 (right) and Brad ‘99 (left), is featured in this month’s edition of Hawaii Business magazine.

Since graduating from Santa Clara University in 2003, Cord and Brad joined Anekona as project managers, handling the day-to-day issues associated with each property. And that’s no small undertaking… Anekona is currently in the process of redeveloping the Ilikai Hotel, rebranding two existing hotels on Kauai, renovating the Regency on BeachWalk and also overseeing the management of the W Hotel which the company purchased more than a year ago.

Adam Wong ‘94 (also mentioned in the article), commonly associated with the local Great Harvest franchises, joined Anekona earlier this year as an equity partner and project manager.

Ryan Yamamoto ‘97 and Mandy Tomita ‘98 were married early this past summer during a small ceremony which included several of their closest family and friends.

Ryan is a licensed contractor and currently works with his father at their family-owned construction business, RMY Construction. He is also a partial owner of the popular restaurant/nightclub, Osake Sushi Bar & Lounge. His younger brother, Erik ‘99, is in his second year of teaching at Iolani and his youngest brother, Corey ‘01, is employed as an engineer.

Mandy is a financial advisor with American Express and in her spare time is an assistant coach for the very successful Iolani Swim Team.

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