The 2019 Civilian Marksmanship Program Air Rifle State Championships were held Thursday, Oct. 29 at the Blaisdell Exhibition Hall, with two students from Kalani High School placing in the top 10. Sara Toma (12) placed 2nd in the Girls division and Rainer Tanaka (11) placed 7th overall.

“Air Rifle is fun,” Toma said. “Our team was really good this year, and I’m very proud of everyone. We did super well. The best part was hanging out with the team because it’s important to get to know each other, and that allows us to better help each other. As a senior on the team, I feel extremely grateful to everyone for doing their best and striving to win.”

The Kalani Girls’ team placed 4th overall and included, in addition to Toma, Katheren Lam in 22nd place, Danielle Sales in 27th, and Audrey Li in 42nd.

Three position air rifle is a precise sport. A match grade target paper has twelve 4.5 centimeter-wide black targets. Ten rings, each just 5.6 millimeters wide, are jammed into each black target, which marksmen aim at from 10 meters away.

Kalani juniors Christopher Kop placed 12th and Brycen Yamaguchi finished 18th.

“I am so proud of this year’s team and their spirit, adaptability, and tenacity to achieve their individual and team goals,” coach Amy Mar said. “Every shooter worked extremely hard throughout the season, and it was shown through many scores improving exponentially.”