Both the girls and boys varsity bowling team finished the ILH season in first place, qualifying them for the HHSAA state championships, where they both clinched the runner-up trophies.
The boys had three medalists: senior Lane Hosaka, junior Bailey Lee and sophomore Logan Takeda. The girls went into the tournament in fourth place but made their way into second place behind Pearl City. The girls had three medalists in the tournament, Candace Minami, Shelby Suzuki, and Amanda Lac.
Anchor for the 7-person girls team, senior Amanda Lac, says, “As a team I think we did really well because we were able to hit a combined score of 800.” A good bowling average for a player is 100. For her, the team’s success this season is rooted in the bonds that the team shares. “If someone is doing badly, then we are all able to help each other out,” she explains. Lac placed 15th in the state championships with a combined score of 1526 (for nine games).
The girls team finished the championship with a combined score of 2582 pins, beating Sacred Hearts, which Lac says is their biggest competitor.
During season play, the girls tied 30-3 with Sacred Hearts and claimed the first place position only after a 2 out of 3 game roll-off.
Fellow captain senior Zoe Wang concurs. “The hardest part of this season was our roll-off against Sacred Hearts to determine the ILH winners,” she says. During season play, the girls tied 30-3 with Sacred Hearts and claimed the first place position only after a 2 out of 3 game roll-off. Wang also points to the importance of team unity, saying “I will never forget all our singing sessions before each match.” Her advice to future bowlers is to “just do it.”
Girls coach Lynne Hayashi says that the biggest hurdle during the season for the girls was inconsistency. “You can have all the talent in the world,” she says, “you can be the strongest on the team, but if you aren’t consistent it doesn’t matter. We worked a lot on consistency, like picking up spares. I always say, if you can’t hit strikes, pick up your spares.”
The boys team finished the state championship with a combined score of 2686 pins. Boys team captain senior Lane Hosaka, who took fifth place overall, felt challenged in the role of captain. “The hardest part of my season,” he says, “was to help our coaches to see who was struggling and how I could help them…It was very hard to bench one particular bowler because we were all very equal, and we all deserved to bowl.”
Describing his season, senior Joshua Kinoshita says, “We were able to set our hearts on the ILH title and accomplish it.” Looking ahead to his graduation, Kinoshita hopes that next year’s team will do even better. Hosaka’s advice to future bowlers is this: “You have to persevere no matter where you start at. Whenever you start something, you won’t be the best. There are always going to be people who are better than you, but if you put your mind to it, you could also be one of the best!”
Photographs by Matthew Omiya (’16)
