One look at the trunk of Alex Chiarella's car shows one thing clearly: He enjoys all sports.
Chiarella is The Maui News Maui Interscholastic League Boy Golfer of the Year after winning the MIL individual title for the second time in three seasons. The recent Seabury Hall graduate is headed to the University of San Diego on a golf scholarship in September.
His car routinely carries a tennis racket, football, Frisbee, basketball and, of course, his golf clubs. He played basketball for the first time in high school as a senior for the MIL Division II league champion Spartans, who finished fourth at the state tournament. He would have done other sports if he could have.
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Marissa Uradomo of Baldwin High School won the MIL girls individual championship and tied for sixth place at the state tournament.
The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photo
"If golf wasn't in the spring, trust me, I would have done baseball, I would have done tennis, soccer in the winter, I would have done football if they let me, I would have done volleyball," he said. "I wish I could have done every single sport, but I can't do them all.
"I am, like, the biggest sportsaholic that there is."
Baldwin junior Marissa Uradomo won the MIL girls individual title and was named the MIL Girl Golfer of the Year.
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Chiarella's 4-under-par 68 in his final prep round at Wailua Golf Course on Kauai vaulted him from a tie for 10th to second in the state tournament last month.
"It is very exciting," Chiarella said of the league honor that he also won in 2010. "It is definitely an achievement because there have been some great junior golfers who have come through the MIL. Yeah, I'd say it is quite the accomplishment."
He beat defending champion Aaron Kunitomo, a recent Kamehameha Maui graduate who is headed to UCLA, by 10 strokes over five rounds for the MIL crown.
It was the most recent showdown in a friendly rivalry that began when both were 8 years old playing in the Maui Junior Golf Association at Waiehu Municipal Golf Course.
"To me, that makes it really special because me and Aaron have been battling it out since we were young kids," Chiarella said. "The fact that he got it last year, I got it this year, it's just a testimony to our hard battle that we have begun for quite some time.
"We definitely make each other better. Playing with him has really helped me grow as a player as well as a person. He has taught me quite a lot on the golf course and I look forward to seeing him in college. ... One day we will be battling it out in the U.S. Open, hopefully."
Kamehameha's Kyeton Littel, who is headed to Hawaii-Hilo on a golf scholarship, Baldwin's Ariel Hanson and Lahainaluna's Malu Rosenthal round out the MIL first-team All-Stars.
Jerry King and Mark Rego are the coaches Chiarella credits for his development. His parents, Al and Rita, are also high on the list.
"I don't think my dad has ever missed a round of golf," Chiarella said. "He is passionate for it more than I am. He is always there, he has attempted to caddy for me before I fire him. And my mom is always the support from the house. We work as a team."
Uradomo has similar feelings. Eddie Lee is her swing coach and her parents, Kelli and Jason Uradomo, have been instrumental in her development.
"They are the ones who are following me at every tournament, making sure that I get everything that I need," she said. "They somewhat treat me like a princess during tournaments, so they are the ones that really helped me."
Uradomo is joined on the MIL girls first team by teammates Bianca Armanini and Kimberlie Miyamoto, and Kamehameha Maui's Shannon Abarra.
Uradomo follows in the footsteps of four-time MIL Player of the Year Elyse Okada of Maui High, who just finished her career at Oregon State, and three-time MIL Player of the Year Cassy Isagawa of Baldwin, who was a first-team All-American as a freshman at Oregon.
"I'm still trying to take it all in, since the season ended it still hasn't hit me that I'm the MIL champ," Uradomo said. "I mean, I worked hard for it, I practiced, I put a lot of effort into what I do and it is nice that what I was practicing was right and it paid off."
Being on the list of MIL champions with Okada and Isagawa put a smile on Uradomo's face. Uradomo finished tied for sixth at state.
"Both players are phenomenal," she said. "I have known Elyse since I was small and I've been playing with Cassy quite a bit. Both are amazing golfers both while playing and away from golf. For me to become as good as they are would be, like, a goal to look forward to."
* Robert Collias is at rcollias@mauinews.com
