Isle File
Wahine softball honors Anderson

Advertiser Staff

Senior Kristin Anderson was named University of Hawai'i softball's Most Inspirational Player at Sunday's awards banquet and seniors Desiree Duran and Tyree Woodruff also won major awards, along with juniors Natalie Gonzales and Stacie Hirano.

Anderson, a Mililani High graduate, has been a starter in center since her freshman season. She has helped UH to a 46-16 record this season. Hawai'i closed its regular season last weekend and finds out its postseason fate this weekend.

The Wahine are a loss behind 17th-ranked Fresno State in the Western Athletic Conference race; the champion earns a berth in the NCAA Tournament. UH is also in the running for one of 24 at-large invitations in the 48-team event.

Duran, a left-hander from San Bernardino, Calif., is the Wahine's Pitcher of the Year. She is 17-4, with a 1.37 ERA and 121 strikeouts.

Gonzales, who bats leadoff, is Offensive Player of the Year. She leads UH in batting (.348), hits (73), triples (3) and stolen bases (10) in her first year as a fulltime starter.

Woodruff is Defensive Player of the Year. The right-fielder has a perfect fielding percentage and leads all outfielders with seven assists.

Hirano earned the team's Scholar-Athlete Award and also holds its highest grade point average. The left-fielder from Hilo is hitting .282.

Freshman Justina Kahaku won the Coaches' Award.

The Wahine received 16 votes in yesterday's USA Today/NFCA Top 25, to move up to 27th.

The NCAA Tournament announcement will be Sunday, at 2:30 p.m. HST, on Fox Sports Net West 2. UH will host a viewing party at Eastside Grill on University Avenue. For information, call 956-4506.

GYMNASTICS

• Four gain nationals: Four Hawai'i female gymnasts, including three level 10 competitors, have qualified for a national level tournament.

The three level 10 gymnasts (level rankings go from 1-10, then elite) are Erin Geary, Sierra Jacobs and Elyse Wong. They will compete in the Level 10 National Championships this weekend in Eugene, Ore.

Anna Hildebrand, a level 9 gymnast, will compete in the Level 9 Western National Championship, May 29-20, in San Diego.

The four qualified at last month's Region 2 Junior Olympic Championships.

Geary, Jacobs and Hildebrand are members of the Hawaiian Island Twisters Gymnastics Club. Wong competes for the Kokokahi Gymnastics Team.

Also, Kaiser High freshman and Class 3 gymnast Geary Udagawa competed in the May 1-6 National Championship in Minneapolis.

His most significant event score was 8.95 in the preliminary round for the parallel bars, placing him second out of 249 competitors. His all-around score of 48.125 ranked him 61st in the field.

SAILING

• Dinghy dominance: The University of Hawai'i coed sailing team dominated the Pacific Coast Dinghy Championships this past weekend at Treasure Island, Calif.

Hawai'i won the A and B divisions and secured a berth in the National Dinghy Championships at Rhode Island, June 6-8.

Josh Heinrich, Sara Hitchcock and Molly O'Bryan made up Hawai'i's A team.

Brent Harrill and Jennifer Warnoc competed for UH in the B division.