Gonah records Koki Beach sweep
Maui Prep freshman wins bodyboard, shortboard titles at MIL meet No. 2
Irie Gonah of Maui Preparatory Academy won the girls shortboard and bodyboard divisions at Maui Interscholastic League surf meet No. 2 on Saturday at Koki Beach in Hana.
The freshman made the best of challenging conditions on Maui’s east side, upsetting teammate and two-time defending MIL champion Sophia Johnston in the shortboard, then defeating her in the bodyboard 30 minutes later.
Johnston won the bodyboard in the season opener two weeks ago at D.T. Fleming Beach Park in Lahaina.
“I was super nervous. Sophia is super good,” Gonah said. “Everyone knows her in our school for being the best surfer. I can’t wait to tell my friends in West Africa.”
Gonah, who grew up in Senegal, moved to Maui in August from Jordan, where her mother works for the United Nations.
She got off to a quick start in the shortboard final, posting the heat’s highest score on her first wave.
In the bodyboard final, Gonah’s winning wave came with one minute left. She caught one of the biggest waves of the day, traveling two-thirds of the way across the bay — a ride that moved her from fourth place to first.
“It’s not as scary to catch the big ones on a bodyboard,” Gonah said. “I just took off. It was really fast, so fun.”
James MacKenzie won the boys shortboard title in his first-ever surf contest.
“I’m super psyched,” said the King Kekaulike sophomore. “I never compete in anything. I’m just not very competitive.”
MacKenzie waited three minutes before catching his first wave, but it turned out to be the highest-scoring one in the final.
“I came off the bottom and did a throw tail with a little roundhouse, and then a little kick on the end,” he said.
Tanek Rucynski, a Kihei Charter senior who competes for Maui High, was the boys bodyboard winner. He had the highest score of the heat on his second wave, a roll to spin to spin maneuver, for his first contest win.
“It was a big set out the back, I dropped in as hard as I could,” Rucynski said. “I saw a section and I hit it.”
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MIL MEET NO. 2
Saturday’s Results
At Koki Beach
Girls
Shortboard–1. Irie Gonah, Maui Prep; 2. Sophia Johnston, Maui Prep; 3. Cecilia Buckingham, King Kekaulike; 4. Kamalei Roback, Kamehameha Maui; 5. Ashley Taoka, Maui High; 6. Jaden Sing, Maui High; t7. Kaya Givensel, Seabury Hall; t7. Fernanda Maldonado, Baldwin; t9. Kira Caterina, Seabury Hall; t9. Madison Runyon, Lahainaluna.
Bodyboard–1. Irie Gonah, Maui Prep; 2. Sophia Johnston, Maui Prep; 3. Jaden Sing, Maui High; 4. Kamalei Roback, Kamehameha Maui; 5. Summer Rusnak, Haleakala Waldorf; 6. Kylie Malcolm, Haleakala Waldorf; t7. Lily Gavagan, Kamehameha Maui; t7. Cecilia Buckingham, King Kekaulike; t9. Ashley Taoka, Maui High; t9. Hailey Papritz, Haleakala Waldorf.
Boys
Shortboard–1. James MacKenzie, King Kekaulike; 2. Spike Shannon, Baldwin; 3. Kaawaloa Shamblin, Hana; 4. Andrew Gibbons, Seabury Hall; 5. Xavier de Jetley, Hana; 6. Jackson Green, King Kekaulike; 7. Zach Ferrier, Seabury Hall; 8. Kaelo Lindsey, Kamehameha Maui; 9. Mark Brocklehurst, Seabury Hall.
Bodyboard–1. Tanek Rucynski, Maui High; 2. Miles Obley, King Kekaulike; 3. Alexander Fahland, King Kekaulike; 4. Kaawaloa Shamblin, Hana; 5. Dylon Oishi-Mochida, Baldwin; 6. Moana Keliiliki-Johnson, Kamehameha Maui; 7. Colton Luke, Kamehameha Maui; 8. Xavier de Jetley, Hana; 9. Joshua Kinney, Kamehameha Maui.