Billy enrolled at Punahou in his freshman year and immediately won a place on the JV football and track squads where his strong performances were an indication of the varsity career that followed. In his sophomore, junior and senior years, Billy won six letters, three each in varsity football and track.This article appears as originally published in the Winter 1990 issue of the Punahou Bulletin.
An outstanding half-back in football in his senior year, he won unanimous All Star selection by both the Advertiser and Star-Bulletin and was voted Payer of the Year by the ILH Coaches. Also in his senior year he was captain of the track team specializing in the 220 and 440 yard events. In that year’s ILH Championships, he was a member of the winning half mile relay team and then the one mile relay team which set a record that stood for 20 years. In his junior year he received the Dr. Hideo Uno Trophy as the most outstanding runner of the University of Hawaii Rainbow Relays.
Billy’s abilities won him an athletic scholarship to Stanford University where, in his first year, he became a starter on the Championship Frosh Football Team. The was followed by three years of first string play on both the football and rugby football teams which included the 1952 Stanford Rose Bowl Team. In his senior year, he played in Hawaii’s first Coconut Bowl (a game between selected college players and the University of Hawaii) and was chosen to travel and play internationally with the U.S. Rugby Team.
Over the years, Billy has continued his active participation in sports. This included playing in the 1973 Outrigger Canoe Club Senior Vets national Volleyball Championships where he received All American mention. An avid tennis player, he has won numerous tennis titles in the past ten years in men’s singles, mixed doubles and doubles championships. He is currently rated #2 in the State in the over 50’s men’s doubles.
Billy attributes his career as a successful business executive to the competition experienced on the playing fields of Punahou and Stanford plus his service as a fighter pilot and captain in the Air National Guard from 1957 – 1964.