Updated at 1:15 p.m., Monday, December 3, 2001
Three UH players named to conference all-star team
By Stephen Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer
University of Hawai'i wide receiver Ashley Lelie, offensive lineman Manly Kanoa III and middle linebacker Chris Brown today were named to the Western Athletic Conference all-star team.
In addition, offensive lineman Vince Manuwai, defensive end Travis Laboy, outside linebacker Pisa Tinoisamoa, free safety Nate Jackson, punter Mat McBriar and kick returner Chad Owens were selected to the second team.
Lelie, a 6-foot-3, 197-pound junior from Radford High, leads the Western Athletic Conference and is third nationally in receiving, averaging 131.9 yards per game. He is averaging nearly 30 yards more per game than the WAC's No. 2 receiver, Fresno State's Rodney Wright.
"It's a cool honor to be picked," Lelie told The Advertiser today.
Radford did not win any games during Lelie's senior season in 1997. He joined UH as a nonscholarship player the following year, and the Warriors also were winless, in 12 games.
Lelie started as a sophomore in 1999, helping the Warriors win a share of the WAC title.
Kanoa, a senior from the Kamehameha Schools, has managed to school, football and family life. He and his wife have an infant daughter.
Brown, also a father, made the transition from defensive end last spring. Brown, a junior from Damien Memorial High School, leads the Warriors in tackles.
Manuwai, a junior from Farrington High, is considered the Warriors' best blocker. Laboy and Tinoisamoa are both recovering from injuries, but played well enough to earn votes from the nine other WAC head coaches. (Each head coach was not allowed to vote for a player from his own team.)
Jackson, a senior from Waianae High, commutes daily from the Leeward Coast, where he lives with his son.
McBriar, a sophomore who was raised in Australia, did not play football until the summer of 2000.
Owens, a walk-on from Roosevelt High, did not return kickoffs and punts until UH's seventh game, against Fresno State Oct. 26.
