UHH dominates at PacWest finals
PUAKO — UH-Hilo’s men’s and women’s golf teams had an excellent showing at the Pacific West Conference Championships — as sophomore Kiersten Saludares placed No.1 to lead UHH’s women’s team to a third-place finish and fifth-year Nicholas Gomez also placed first to lead the men to a repeat conference title on Wednesday afternoon in South Kohala.
Saludares — a Waiakea High alumnus — finished her third round early in the afternoon. Even though everyone else on the course seemed to know that she had won, she didn’t realize until she saw her mother crying.
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“It means a lot because I’m from (Hawaii Island),” Saludares said. “We worked so hard, and we played here a lot. I’m so happy that all of our work paid off, because this season wasn’t going as best as I planned. Doing this at the end of the season was really rewarding for me.”
Saludares shot four over after three rounds — carding 77 on the first day, 71 on the second and an even 72 on the third.
Though the Vulcans’ women’s squad didn’t win the championship, they accomplished the goal that their coach, Jim DeMello, set for them before the tournament — improve from their score after the first round.
UHH collectively shot 320, 304 and 305. Elle Otani was the Vulcan’s second-highest finisher, shooting +17 to tie for No. 11 — just one stroke short of making the top ten. Teammates Tia Kuali‘i and Trinity Ledgerwood tied for No. 20 at +24.
“We did well,” DeMello said. “We knew that if the wind came out, we’d have a chance, because we’re comfortable playing in the wind — the other schools aren’t as comfortable.
“I’m satisfied with how we played. We had a bad day the first day, but we didn’t give up.”
Biola won the women’s team title, carding +59 to lead No. 2 Academy of Art by six strokes and UHH by ten strokes.
For the men, it was not only their program’s first-ever repeat championship, it was their first one on the Big Island.
It was also Gomez’ first No. 1 finish at a conference championship. Just like Saludares, Gomez shot +4 over the course of three days — carding 73, 73 and 74. Junior teammate Dylan Bercan also landed in the top five, shooting +6 to land in a three-way tie for third place. UHH freshman Dysen Park was just outside the top ten, carding +13 to tie for No. 11.
“Me and Nicholas came into the program at the same time,” assistant coach Sean Maekawa said. “I got to see him grow so much into the player he is today. He’s worked so hard — awesome attitude, awesome work ethic, I’m glad to see it pay off.”
“He long time deserve it,” UHH men’s head coach Earl Tamiya said. “He struggled last year a bit. This year, he came through bigtime and plays No. 1 for us.”
Tamiya said that more than a year ago when Mauna Lani was announced as the conference championship venue, he and his team thought they had a good chance at winning.
“We came out here to practice a few times,” he said. “The boys did good, hopefully we will get lucky at the regionals and go on to the nationals.
“I just wanna thank all of the supporters and our boosters, and all of the courses on the west side who let us practice there.”
Next up, the Vulcans will head to the NCAA West/South Regional Championship — which is slated for May 9-11 in Las Cruces, N.M.
