Five added to Hawai'i Sports Hall of Fame

Les Murakami UH baseball coach	Kurt Gouveia NFL linebacker	Margo Oberg Champion surfer	Ed Parker Martial arts pioneer	Chad Rowan Sumo grand champion
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Advertiser Staff

Les Murakami heads a group of five sports figures who make up the latest class of inductees to the Hawai'i Sports Hall of Fame.

Murakami, who built the University of Hawai'i baseball program from a club team to a national championship contender, will be joined by former NFL linebacker Kurt Gouveia, former championship surfer Margo Oberg, the late martial arts pioneer Ed Parker and recently retired sumo grand champion Chad Rowan (Akebono).

They will be formally inducted in ceremonies Feb. 12 at the Stan Sheriff Center. Their addition brings to 86 the number of honorees since Gov. Ben Cayetano established the Hall in 1997.

Murakami, 65, compiled a 1,079-570-4 record and led the Rainbows to six Western Athletic Conference championships and 11 NCAA Tournament appearances, including College World Series runner-up in 1980. His 30-year reign was cut short by a stroke in 2000.

Gouveia has been a winner at all levels of football, helping Wai'anae High to two Prep Bowl titles, aiding Brigham Young to its 1984 national championship and helping the Washington Redskins to two Super Bowl titles. Gouveia appeared in 184 games in a 13-year NFL career.

Oberg, a Kaua'i resident, was a premier big wave surfer in the 1970s and '80s when she won five world championships. She was named to Sports Illustrated's Top 100 Women Figures of the Century.

Parker, a Kamehameha Schools graduate, has been called the "father of modern karate" in the United States. He was inducted into the Black Belt Hall of Fame and selected as its man of the year in 1974 and its 1979 instructor of the year.

Rowan, a Kaiser High graduate, retired in September after a history-making 13 years in sumo that saw him become the first foreign yokozuna in Japan's centuries-old national sport.