Moanalua names football coach
Advertiser Staff
Arnold Martinez, a former head coach at Solano (Calif.) Community College, has been named head football coach at Moanalua High.
Martinez replaces Jose Guevara, whose contract was not renewed in October after eight seasons at the helm.
Martinez, 32, spent the past season as defensive coordinator at Hogan (Vallejo, Calif.) High School, where he also has been an athletic director and teacher. Martinez also teaches physical education at Solano CC, where he was head football coach two years ago.
"His wife is from here, and he got wind of the opening," said Moanalua athletic director Dana Dias. "We on the selection and interview committee are grateful for the interest shown by others, but he has quite an extensive background as a football coach and has quite a bit of credentials. Even when we met him in person, we were very impressed and we felt he was very positive and would work hard for the program."
Moanalua went 1-7 in 2002.
Water polo
Smith an All-American: Punahou senior C.J. Smith has been chosen first team and seven other athletes from Hawai'i have been honored as high school All-America water polo players.
The team was selected by the American Swimming Coaches Association and covers only players in California and Hawai'i.
In addition to Smith, Punahou's Forrest Schwartz was selected on the third team and Kyle Morgan on the sixth team.
Iolani junior Damon Jones was chosen on the seventh team while Iolani senior Blake Horita and Punahou senior Robby Field were named to the eighth team.
Honorable mentions were won by Iolani senior Julian Price and Pac-Five sophomore Sean Aoyagi of Mid-Pacific Institute.
Smith, who has signed with UCLA, is the 13th player from Hawai'i selected as a first-team high-school All-American. The last one was Brandon Brooks (Punahou '99), who was selected first-team NCAA All-American in 2000 and 2002 for UCLA and currently is in tryouts for goalkeeper on the 2004 U.S. Olympic team.
POLE VAULTING
Summit meeting: A Pole Vault Summit will be held Friday and Saturday at the University of Hawai'i lecture hall, which is next to the track.
The sessions are free to all coaches and athletes.
Instructors include Mike Tully, former world and American record holder and 1984 Olympic silver medalist, along with athletes and coaches from California and Hawai'i.
Friday's session will be 6 to 9 p.m. Saturday's session will be from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The meetings are mandatory for all high school pole vaulting coaches. For information, call 381-5530.
WRESTLING
Raiders on top: Iolani's boys beat defending state champion Saint Louis for the second time in 16 days, 39-22, on Saturday to solidify their hold on first place in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu.
Iolani has a 7-0 record to 5-2 for Saint Louis and 4-3 for Kamehameha and Punahou. ILH teams get three points for dual meet victories and points earned in the championship meet next month are added to that.
Anticipate this: One of the most competitive divisions at the state tournament March 14-15 at Blaisdell Arena may be boys' 130 pounds. A recent round-robin featured two state champions (Brent Kakesako of Iolani and Ben Wilmore of Saint Louis) and a state runner-up (Emile Suehiro of McKinley). Suehiro beat Kakesako, Kakesako beat Wilmore and Wilmore beat Suehiro.
