Hawaii Baptist senior Michelle Chan posted a 552 to clinch the individual girls title and claim the highest score at the Civilian Marksmanship Program/HHSAA Air Riflery State Championships on Tuesday at Kamehameha-Maui.
Waiakea’s Guy Yokoe finished with a 537 to claim the gold in the boys individual championship.
In a moment of deja vu, the Pearl City girls and Mid-Pacific boys captured their second state titles in three years. The same two teams won the state tournament in 2013.
The Chargers edged ILH champion and defending state champ Mid-Pacific by just seven points and finished with a combined team score of 2,104 under coach Lester Aranaydo.
“I think it came down to the relays and that sort of made the difference because it could’ve gone either way,” Aranaydo said. “(The shooters) don’t know who’s winning or who’s behind, so that’s the tricky part of the match, but the top teams can beat each other on any given day.
Pearl City, the OIA title holder, returned three shooters from last year’s HHSAA appearance in seniors Danielle Tanabe, Jennifer Loui and Kiara-Lin Wasano. Sophomore Madison Hataishi is a new addition to the postseason squad and was the key to winning this state title, according to Aranaydo.
“Madison really stepped up and brought the championship back to Pearl City. Last year she didn’t even start, she didn’t even participate in scoring matches,” Aranaydo said. “I took her to states last year just to keep her interested, so I think that kind of ignited her interest to really put in the effort. She’s seen what the top girls are doing, she kind of copied that, and earlier this year she started to put it together.”
The Mid-Pacific boys team, comprised of Zachary Chang, Aaron Kam, Colby Sakumoto and Colin Chun, fell short of their conference title but stepped up in the statewide competition with a score of 2,118 to beat Waiakea by 32 points.