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Kamehameha surfer becomes first ILH bodyboard champion
Her day began with a touchdown catch.
Her day ended with surfing history.
Kailani Tong-Matthews of Kamehameha became the first ILH bodyboard champion on Saturday in 1-3 feet of occasionally glassy surf at Ala Moana Bowls on a cloudy Saturday afternoon.
In an inaugural season of surfing as a state championship sport in any state, crowning the first ILH individual champions with Diamond Head as background was absolutely classic.
For Tong-Matthews and her fellow champions, the season has been as much about passion and fun as it is about legacy. Just a few hours earlier, the sophomore hauled in a 15-yard touchdown pass from Arialyn Lee to give the Warriors a 12-0 lead against Damien. Kamehameha went on to a 26-7 win and is 7-0 in Interscholastic League of Honolulu flag football action.
In the water, Tong-Matthews posted a 12.93 point total to edge Punahou’s Chloe Cloward (11.86).
“I feel very blessed and happy. I’m surprised. At first, in my heat, I wasn’t really doing well, but I kept pushing forward,” Tong-Matthews said.
She has been on the longboard “since I was a baby.”
“Bodyboarding is my favorite because I can do it with all my friends,” she said. “I do 360s, Rollos, cutbacks and sprays.”
Flag football wasn’t a youth sport for her.
“I started in January. I do it for fun,” Tong-Matthews said. “Shout out to my dad (Dominic) for supporting me.”
Cloward was outstanding. The freshman had already won the shortboard championship with a score of 11.43, ahead of ‘Iolani’s Kaya Pestana (9.73) and Buffanblu teammate Kenzi Nakamura (9.14).
“I feel great. I’m really stoked to have won today for shortboarding,” Cloward said. “The stakes were higher at this contest. I’ve done at the past ones, but my highest opponent, this is her home break, so I was a little more nervous.”
Puaiohi DeFries of Kamehameha (15.13) edged Kaya Pestana of ‘Iolani (14.67), Warriors teammate Joie Kaiu (13.00) and Punahou’s Liya Seibel (8.70) for the girls longboard championship. The three have been friends for years, jumping into the water at Queen’s Beach during the pandemic and learning to longboard as their mothers watched close by.
“When we all started surfing together, Joie would always bug me, ‘Let’s go surf! Let’s go surf!’ Our moms took us. We were out there seven days a week. We would do our (online) homework in the morning at the beach, then we would go out and surf,” DeFries recalled. “We got lucky. We were blessed with the best moms.”
Eventually, their love for surfing combined with a love for competition.
“Me and Joie started to push each other out of our comfort zones. We started doing surf club at our school,” DeFries said. “We started entering competitions at Queen’s at 12 or 13. We got first and second. It was an online contest. You had to submit a video of yourself.”
‘Iolani senior Ace Arizumi notched another achievement in his stellar two-sport spring season. Arizumi won the ILH boys shortboard championship with a score of 17.26, ahead of Punahou’s Na‘u Shepherd (11.84).
“I was just waiting for the good ones (waves). It’s a left (at Bowls), so my back side snap. The main thing is just completing all my waves, not falling,” Arizumi said. “I’m happy that it’s officially an ILH sport. I’m looking forward to Maui.”
Formalized surfing for your school has its benefits.
“It’s so much fun surfing Bowls with only six people. If there was no contest, there would be 40, 50 people,” Arizumi said.
Arizumi also plays baseball for the Raiders, as did his father, Donn. Surfing as a hobby versus surfing for One Team added some fuel to Arizumi’s tank.
“I’m practicing my turns. It’s more focused, especially if there’s a contest coming up. You try to make all your waves so you can’t fall,” he said. “I do contests year round. I did the Hawaii Surfing Association contest, all amateur for 18-under kids. Now I’m 18, so I’m starting to do QSWSL. The first one I’m doing is in June over here at Bowls.”
Pacific Buddist Academy senior Liam Antipala finished with a 13.26 to outscore Kamehameha’s Rylee Pang (11.6) and ‘Iolani’s Parker Churchill (10.43) for the boys bodyboard title.
“Bodyboarding runs in my blood. My father (Harry) was a national body-boarder,” Antipala said. “It was very challenging conditions. Some heats it was on shore and east wind, and very crumbly. In other heats, it was a big surge and waves all heat. Certain heats, there would be nothing. My strategy was to differentiate myself from the competition. It’s about the size of the maneuver and how you execute it. There’s the El Rollo, a simple barrel. There’s the ARS (air roll spin), kind of Rollo mixed with a 360 in the air. There’s regular back flips and inverts and forward airs and reverse airs. I only used a couple of those today.”
Mid-Pacific junior Kala Kukea won gold in the boys longboard division with a score of 14.93, ahead of Punahou’s Mala‘e McElheny (10.54), Kamehameha’s Paoakalani Topping (9.44) and ‘Iolani’s Arizumi (9.10).
“I feel happy. I’m really grateful we get to surf for school now, for an ILH sport. It’s a beautiful day and the waves are so fun out there,” Kukea said.
Kamehameha won the ILH girls team title and Punahou won the boys team championship.
“We’re fortunate to have a really, really good coach (Jason Shibata) who makes us go out into anything. You have to learn (to score points) in any conditions,” DeFries said. “The key is having a really good wave selection, completing your wave, and being really critical with your skills. Nose rides and turns. Today was pretty good. This is prime time. We got really lucky with the wind. It kind of calmed down today.
Hawaii Prep World
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