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Maui Preparatory Academy athletes achieve strong spring sports season

By Staff | Jun 2, 2016

Maui Preparatory Academy’s surf team was led by Maui Interscholastic League All-Stars Sophia Johnston and Dante Silva.

NAPILI – The Maui Preparatory Academy Pueo continued to soar through the spring sports season, with the surfing, tennis, golf and track and field teams rising to new heights in Maui Interscholastic League competition.

In the surf, Sophia Johnston continued to dominate, as she was named MIL Female Surfer of the Year after winning her second consecutive shortboard championship and a silver medal in the bodyboard event.

Johnston, a junior who won both events in 2015 to earn her first Surfer of the Year recognition, led the girl’s team to a second place finish in the team standings.

In the boy’s competition, Dante Silva was named an MIL All-Star after placing second in the shortboard championships.

The Pueo surf team, coached by Andrew O’Riordan and assistants Dylan Payne, Arielle Shore, Shane Hurdman and Lindsey Hunt, was made up of senior Kieran Clark; juniors Johnston, Jessica Kingwell, Josiah Miller and Alexa Narayan; sophomore Silva; and freshmen Christopher Egan and Malik Hurdman.

Maui Prep’s track team made huge gains this season, said coach Khara Lewis.

“Maui Prep continued to evolve as a premiere program in training student athletes to be competitive surfers in the world-class surf of West Maui,” commented Coach O’Riordan.

Out on the hard court, the Maui Prep tennis team, coached by Colleen Patton and assistants Steve Campbell and Nick Provenza, was led by the individual effort of defending MIL girls singles champion Corey Patton Lossner, who took third place this spring (she won the gold medal last season) and advanced to the round of 16 at the state championships this year.

The Pueo roster included seniors Devon Bluh, Richard Sargent and Suniva Thangaraj; juniors Jonathan Jerome, Lorie Kim, Lexie Leon, Johanna Lubbers, Lucas Mackin, Daniel Ornelas, Kamryn Perry and Te’a Vannatta; sophomores Griffin Sagar and Mioh Wakasa; and first-year player Andy Lee.

In track and field, Maui Prep student athletes literally and figuratively soared to new heights with a shift of focus to the field events – and the high jump in particular.

First-year head coach Khara Lewis, assisted by Dennis Nakamura, led a very small roster to great success in the high jump event led by Cassidy Otto and Alexa Narayan. Both Cassidy and Narayan qualified for the state championship meet. The remainder of the team included juniors Nolan Lehman, Cole Nielsen and Sarah Wilhelm; and first-year athletes Hannah Long and Logan Twigg.

Three members of the Pueo golf team qualified for the state tournament.

“Maui Prep track and field made huge gains this season, with Cassidy Otto and Alexa Narayan smashing (school) records in multiple events. The team is already looking forward to next season, which is gearing up to be the most successful yet,” commented Coach Lewis.

The Pueo golf season was highlighted by the effort of first-year player Meghan Singh, who captured eighth place at the MIL championships to qualify for the state tournament. Also reaching the state championships were Adam Quandt with a seventh place in the MIL playoffs, and Beau Johnston at ninth place.

Rounding out the Pueo roster were seniors Nicholas Head and Hao “Jay” Fu; juniors Jonah Bluh, Zachriah Giles and Adam Quandt; sophomores Akiva Bluh and Beau Johnston; and freshmen Isabela Friese and Singh.

The team was led by head coach Jennifer Rutz, who has been instrumental in building the program to be competitive in the MIL over the last three seasons.

Maui Prep golfers are blessed to be supported by the nearby Kapalua Golf Resort and several professionals and coaches there, and at Kaanapali by Ben Hongo, Andy Wituszynski, David Havens and Emmit Markulis.

The Maui Prep tennis team was led by Corey Patton Lossner, who advanced to the round of 16 at the state championships this year.