Few outside Kamehameha have seen senior Colby Terlep shoot this season, but his lofty air riflery scores don’t lie.
So much so that Hilo High High coach Rayner Galdones recently asked his cousin, Warriors coach Kelly Galdones, what it would take to throw Terlep off his game.
“I told him somebody is going to have to mess with his gun, or break his leg, or something weird is going to happen for him to go wrong,” Kelly Galdones said lightheartedly. “For Colby, his focus is there, he wants to go out on top.”
“But maybe something can go right for one of the other shooters.”
There are candidates to be sure, but Terlep went 6 for 6 during regular-season meets to easily grab the top seed with a 276.67 average for Saturday’s BIIF championships at Kamehameha. Fresh off wrapping up boys and girls team titles, the Warriors will move from their shooting room into Koaia Gym for the first all-school meet of the season.
“I thing they are looking forward to shooting against other schools for the first time in two years,” Kelly Galdones said.
Kamehameha’s boys won the team title behind Terlep, Rion Chong (259.33), Caysen Jay Guillermo (246.67) and Kanalu Pakani (243). Other shooters looking to end Terlep’s streak include Waiakea’s Raiven Chinen (265), the second seed, and fourth-seeded Cesar Rivera of St. Joseph.
Kamehameha’s Briani Iyo (269.67) has been the best girls shooter, but just barely over Waiakea’s Carys Urasaki (268.00) and Kamehameha’s Calleigh-Rose Lee (267.33).
“Toward the end of the season, Briani really got strong,” Galdones said.
Joining Iyo and Lee in lifting Kamehameha to title were Kylie Iwamoto (260.33) and Tia Tanimoto (256).
Those chasing Terlep can take heart in what Iwamoto accomplished as a sophomore in 2019, rising when it counted to win BIIFs.
On Saturday, everybody starts over at zero.
“Anybody can win,” Galdones said. “We just try to keep it even-keel.”