The Lahainaluna High School tennis teams worked to earn spots in the state tournament that will take place this weekend on the Big Island.

LAHAINA – The sterling tradition of integrity within the athletic programs at Lahainaluna High School continues, as the Luna girls and boys tennis teams battle their way to the Maui Interscholastic League and state championship playoffs.

That pathway to gold, both on the court and in the game of life, was set down here on the West Side some 70 years ago, when the late Shigeto “Shigesh” Wakida founded the Lahaina Tennis Club and later coached the Lahainaluna teams to unparalleled success.

The legendary mentor passed his life and tennis skills philosophy on to hundreds of Lahaina keiki – one of whom was current Luna coach Macario Pascual.

Coach Mac has now been at the helm of the Lahainaluna tennis program for 13 years, as well as the Lahaina Tennis Club during that span.

He is currently assisted by Edwin Pascual, McKenzie Cajudoy, Deborah Dorenzo, Vinson Goldston, Pam and Mike Cooke, Juvenal Ramos and Madolyn Ramos.

For the current campaign, both the Luna girls and boys teams headed into the MIL West Division team tournament atop the standings with 6-0 records, but due to the loss of several key players, both lineups were defeated in the semifinal round.

They looked for redemption in the individual playoffs April 25-27 at the Lahaina Civic Center to determine spots in the state tournament that will take place at Waikaloa on the Big Island on May 9-11.

The 2019 Luna tennis roster was made up of seniors Joshua Calaoagan, Angela Bulatao and Charles Henry Jimenez; junior team captains Julian Deolian Domawa, Challys Pascual, Kekailoa Cajudoy and James Fujii, and classmates Abigail Sani, Leilani Esperanza and Alex Rodriguez Gomez; sophomores Shawn Abut, Adricx Lapus, Ana Rodriguez Gomez, Caitlin Baclay, Kahealani Garcia, Ariana Pacleb, Taryn Cabingas and Noah Bauchman; and first-year players Hailey Killett, Chelsea Adovas, Ziri Lapus and Dylan Lopez.

“These kids really worked well together as a unit and had good team chemistry,” said Coach Mac from the porch of Village Galleries in Lahaina where he displays his artwork.

“We are an inexperienced team, but they always gave their best effort, always gave 100 percent, which one of the important things that we learned from Coach Wakida along with dedication and commitment.

“A big mahalo to all of the coaches, the parents, to all of our supporters, and especially to Tropic Water for supplying the team with water throughout the season, and to Old Lahaina Luau for the use of their facility for our car wash, which is our major fundraiser of the year,” Coach Mac concluded.