Ginoza, Williams garner MIL Swimmers of the Year honors | News, Sports, Jobs
King Kekaulike Higher College junior Reese Williams and — The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photo
Maui Higher College senior Karissa Ginoza and King Kekaulike junior Reese Williams have discovered a lot by way of swimming, each in and out of the pool.
These lessons have translated into results in the type of Maui Interscholastic League crowns and the title of Maui Interscholastic League Swimmers of the Year, as determined by the league’s coaches.
As she closes the door on her swim profession and appears forward to college, Ginoza reflected on how her time as a student-athlete has ready her for the future.
“I feel the two greatest issues have been unquestionably grit and balance,” Ginoza stated. “The quantity that you train and to drop a hundredth of a second is insane, but I unquestionably would say that mentally, I’m a lot stronger than most of my peers and just understanding how to balance the college aspect with the swimming aspect. … Acquiring that balance and just staying on major of anything else has unquestionably been a challenge, but I’ve grown and it will assist me as a college student and even when I enter the actual planet in the workforce.”
For Williams, who very first began swimming at just five years old for the Maui Dolphins, the sport showed him what it requires to attain his objectives.
Maui Higher senior Karissa Ginoza (bottom photo) are this year’s MIL Swimmers of the Year. — The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photo
“You can be fantastic at something you want to be fantastic at, you just have to attempt genuinely difficult,” he stated. “It unquestionably tends to make me a lot more competitive with, like, anything I do — not even sports associated. Something I do, I want to be the greatest I can be at it. I feel that comes from swimming.”
Ginoza capped her final higher college meet as the state runner-up in the girls one hundred-yard backstroke and completed fourth in the one hundred butterfly at the K. Mark Takai / HHSAA Swimming and Diving State Championships final month. She also anchored the Sabers’ 400 freestyle relay to third spot.
At the MIL championships ten days prior, she left the Kihei Aquatic Center with 4 gold medals, winning the one hundred fly and one hundred back as nicely as major her group to victories in the 200 medley relay and 400 cost-free relay.
“I unquestionably couldn’t have asked for a superior way to have ended my season,” she stated. “It was unquestionably very bittersweet simply because it was a terrific finish, you know, I lastly got that Futures time I’ve been operating for the previous 3 years, Maui Higher College did wonderful, like, each and every swimmer dropped time and our relays did genuinely nicely, but also it type of created me appear back at from a diverse viewpoint and understand what I’m leaving behind because I’m not swimming in college, so it unquestionably was amazing just to expertise that with my group — just the smiles on everyone’s faces, but it also created me a tiny sad on the inside.”
Williams was the MIL champion in the boys one hundred cost-free and one hundred back and was element of Na Alii’s winning 200 medley relay group. At states, he was a bronze medalist in the one hundred cost-free and fourth-spot finisher in the one hundred back.
The Maui News 2022-23 MIL Swimming & Diving All-Stars
“I’m fairly satisfied with it, there’s usually space for improvement and I want to get superior subsequent year and boost a lot,” Williams stated. “The progress is in all probability attributed to my coaches providing me fantastic workouts, and my teammates and pals pushing me each and every day to perform tougher and tougher, and coming to each and every practice.”
Following the state championship, Williams stated he didn’t take any rest days and was proper back in the pool preparing for his senior season.
“I want to get very first in states in as significantly events as I can and I want to break the MIL record in the one hundred freestyle — I’m a couple seconds off of it now,” he stated. “It’s the greatest time of the year simply because it is not just swimming with the club swimmers, but everyone that desires to swim, so it is super exciting. Your classmates, your peers — everyone is there obtaining exciting swimming. Soon after swim meets we all go to the beach and it is super exciting.”
Williams is joined on the MIL boys very first-group All-Stars list by Maui Prep’s Noah Caiserman, Legend Storer, and Carter Bozich Kamehameha Maui’s Ryan Smart Lahainaluna’s Jake McGill and Maison Alexander and Maui High’s Niji Wada.
Ginoza is joined on the MIL girls very first group by Maui Higher teammates Aika Swanson and Charie Salacup Maui Prep’s Sacha Salem and Yuna Lee Seabury’s Kalla Pellettieri, Helena Colletta, and Tulip Hori and King Kekaulike diver Lily Barrett.
Maui Prep’s Michael “Tex” Ritter, who guided Na Pueo to their very first-ever sweep of the league group titles, was chosen the MIL Coach of the Year.
Becoming named MIL girl swimmer of the year “means so significantly, I’ve been swimming for the previous 12 or 13 years, so to lastly get this paramount moment of MIL, it signifies a lot,” Ginoza stated.
In college, the Sabers senior stated she will be studying mechanical engineering and medicine on the West Coast. She plans to come back dwelling in the course of college breaks to pay a visit to her old group and assist coach.
“As grueling as the sport was, it was usually the folks that created it so enjoyable,” she stated. “Some of my greatest memories have been from education trips or just swim meets exactly where we just traveled to Oahu. … I know that when we’re all going by way of the very same grueling set, you have the very same mindset and connection that I feel I’ll miss when I move on.”
* Dakota Grossman is at dgrossman@mauinews.com
The Maui News 2022-23 MIL Swimming & Diving All-Stars
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