The team includes (from left): Coach Leslie Lau, Kalena Abrew, Bianzy Barbosa, Emmalei Higa, Sonia Rojas, Donovan Asami, Kulani Hefner, Maka Hefner, David Jackson, Christopher Mueller and Coach Marc Watasaki.

LAHAINA — The Lahainaluna High School Air Riflery Team has taken big strides this season to move up in the Maui Interscholastic League campaign and to qualify student-athletes for the state completion in December.

The program is guided by head coach Leslie Lau and assistant Marc Watasaki and led by junior captain Christopher Mueller. Donovan Asami, the lone senior on the team, is joined by juniors Kulani Hefner and David Jackson; sophomores Bianzy Barbosa, Emmalei Higa and Sonia Rojas; and freshman Kalena Abrew.

Coach Watasaki describes the team as young but exhibiting positive growth over the course of the season.

While struggling to shoot positive scores at the beginning of the year, scores have improved throughout the year with several student-athletes threatening to qualify for states.

“We shoot in three positions — prone, standing and kneeling — and each round consists of ten shots worth ten points each. One-hundred shots per round for three rounds, for a total of 300,” he explained last week.

“Our captain, Christopher Mueller, has been a steadying presence, leader and role model. Every day, he analyzes every shot and is constantly making little tweaks to get another point here and there. On the girls’ side, Bianzy Barbosa has recorded our highest scores for prone and kneeling, and Sonia Rojas and Kalena Abrew have quietly developed into major contributors as they set the culture on the team of positivity and fun at practice,” added Watasaki.

“Coach Leslie (Lau) has brought his years of experience from training with the U.S. Olympic team to really help develop these student-athletes into shooters. His attention to detail and ability to pinpoint details for them to improve has been instrumental in their development. Their progress has been phenomenal, and I can’t wait to see how high they can go,” Coach Watasaki concluded.