Hilo High graduate earns soccer honor
By Dennis Anderson
Advertiser Staff Writer
Senior forward Shanon Hopkins of Linfield (Ore.) was chosen men's soccer Player of the Year in the Northwest Conference.
Hopkins, a 1998 Hilo High graduate and former Big Island Player of the Year, was first-team all-conference the last two years
He finished his career as the second-leading goal scorer (37) and point scorer (81) in Linfield history, despite a season-ending injury in 2000, when Linfield reached the NCAA Division III national semifinals.
Hopkins scored 15 game-winning goals in his career.
Linfield coach Ian Clerihew said Hopkins "possesses a combination of quickness and speed which allows him to be deceptive with his dribble and pass. His scoring achievements have not come from talent alone;ÊShanon has worked very hard to recover from numerous injuries to become the scorer he is."
Junior forward-midfielder Michael Semenza (Punahou '99) of Willamette (Ore.) also was chosen on the first team and Pacific (Ore.) junior goalkeeper Ryan Stanley (Kaiser) repeated on the second team.
Even though Semenza didn't have many goals (5), he scored when he needed to the most — the sign of a top-level player, Willamette coach Jim Tursi said.
Semenza scored two game-winning goals.
Stanley broke his own school record for saves with 122 and had a 1.16 goals-against average.
WOMEN'S SOCCER
• Great Northwest Conference
Both the first- and second-team goalkeepers on the Great Northwest Athletic Conference all-star team are from Hawai'i.
Western Oregon sophomore Moani Mundo (Castle '00) was picked by coaches on the first team and Western Washington junior Shaye Anderson (Parker '99) of Kamuela on the second team.
Mundo helped Western Oregon tie for the conference championship with a school-record 12 victories.ÊShe had 96 saves, stopping 76 percent of the shots against her, and a 1.72 goals-against average. She had four shutouts in 17 games.
Mundo "has great foot technique, good reaction time and good spring," coach Rod Fretz said.ÊÊ
Anderson allowed 1.26 goals per game and stopped 80 percent of the shots on her in 18 games (14 starts).
Humboldt State junior GabbyÊÊAhmadiaÊÊ(Waiakea)ÊÊand Western Oregon freshman Erin Ota (Maryknoll '01) of Kane'ohe received honorable mention. Ahmadia scored 21 points (8 goals, 5 assists) and made 55 percent of her shots on goal. Ota had 10 points (3, 4).
• Pacific (Oregon)
Sophomore Moani Lau (Kamehameha '00), who transferred from Division I Nevada to Division III Pacific (Ore.) this year, made first-team All-Northwest Conference.ÊÊLau, who moved from defenderÊÊto attacking midfielder in midseason, led Pacific in scoring with six goals, including two game-winners, and 14 points.
"Moani was a different class of player for us," Pacific coach Tom Copeland said. "She played hard every game and was very consistent.ÊThe best move we made was to put her up front. She can put goals in the back of the net whenever we need her to."
VOLLEYBALL
• Henderson State (Arkansas)
Juniors Kalei Teves (Roosevelt '98) and Rachel Lee (Hawai'i Baptist '99), both from 'Aiea,Êhelped Henderson State win the Gulf South Conference Western Division championship withÊan 11-1 record (25-9 overall).ÊÊ
Teves, a 6-1 middle blocker, ranks fourth in the conference in blocks (1.12 per game) and setter Lee is in the top five in assists (11.51 per game). Teves and Lee both played at Taft College in California last season.
• Northwest Nazarene (Idaho)
Sophomore Ka'ala Hanson (Hilo '00) was chosen on the Great Northwest Conference fall sports all-academic team with a 3.39 grade-point average. She is a biology major.
WOMEN'S WRESTLING
• USA National Team
Clarissa Chun (Roosevelt '99) went 3-3 in the first Women's World Cup, which ended Saturday at Leudlois, France.
Wrestling in the 46 kg (101.25 pounds) division, Chun pinned wrestlers from Russia, Canada and Tunisia. She lost to competitors from China, Japan (a pin) and France.
The previous week at the Sunkist Kids/ASU International Open in Phoenix, she took first place. Chun, the defending collegiate champion and 2001 Pan American Games silver medalist, is a junior at Missouri Valley College but has been training recently at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs.
TENNIS
• St. Louis
Freshman Ikaika Jobe (Punahou '01), two-time Hawai'i high school singles champion, won three matches to reach the second round in singles and the quarterfinals in doubles at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association regional championships in St. Louis. Jobe and his partner reached the semifinals of the Louisville Invitational.
