Isabel Villanueva of St. Francis hit 24 bulls and shot a three-round total of 550 to win the girls ILH air riflery championship on Saturday at the Saint Louis range.
Villanueva was almost automatic from the prone position, hitting 15 bulls — seven in a row at one point — and scoring 197 points to earn a medal for that discipline as well. She scored the most points in the standing with 178 and came home with 175 in the kneeling. Jaylene Lum of Mid-Pacific was the most accurate from the kneeling with 180 points on seven bulls.
Teammate Toni Silva made up four points on Villanueva in the kneeling but fell short of the gold with a 544. Mid-Pacific’s Meagan Nakamoto was third with a 534 total.
The boys competition was more wide open, with Evan Ebesu of Pac-Five taking the gold with a 540 and 14 bulls.
He was not tops alone in any poisition, but finished in the top 10 in all three of them.
Colin Chun of Mid-Pacific was the top dog in the prone, scoring 192 points to beat Aaron Kam of Mid-Pacific and Esbesu by two points.
Ebesu then shot a 173 in the standing, tying Punahou’s Kyle Axt with 173 points. Ebesu shot a 90 in the first round but slipped to an 83 in the second to allow Axt’s 87 tie him.
Punahou’s Dean Rodan, who tied the ILH record the previous week, was fourth in the prone and 12th in the standing before finding his shot in the kneeling. Rodan shot a 181 in the discipline with four bulls, equalled by Garrick Millard of Pac-Five. Kam, Chun, Colby Sakumoto, Devin Acton and Ty Sutherland were all just one point off Rodan and Millard’s 181.
Ebesu shot a 177 from his knees with four bulls.
The shooters will assemble at the Blaisdell Exhibition Hall on Tuesday to vie for the state championship. The ILH has had the last two state champions in the girls but hasn’t had a boy win the title in two years.
Villanueva was fourth in the state last year.
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