Ex-Kamehameha athlete makes switch for team
| • | Lack of height didn't stop former Wai'anae athlete |
Compiled by Dennis Anderson
Advertiser Staff Writer
"If I had the luxury of coaching a team of Jessica Catekista every year, it would be a wonderful situation," says Regis (Colorado) women's soccer coach J.B. Belzer. "She would run through a brick wall for you."
Belzer never asked Catekista to run through any walls, but he says, "She took one for the team this (2001) year."
Jessica Catekista, a Kamehameha Schools graduate, moved to midfielder for her senior season at Regis.
After Catekista had earned All-Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference recognition three years in a row as a sweeper or marking back, Belzer asked her to move to central midfielder for the 2001 season.
"She said, 'I'll do it,' " Belzer said. "She looked at the big picture. Her willingness to step up and try a new position was one of the factors that helped us get to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in her career."
With Catekista controlling the midfield, Regis was unbeaten in 19 games before losing in the Division II regional final.
She did not win all-star honors for the fourth time, but she was named to the conference all-academic team for the second year in a row with a grade-point average above 3.41. She was also a team captain the past two years. "She was a role model," Belzer said.
Catekista, a 1998 Kamehameha Schools graduate from Wahiawa, walked on at Regis, in Denver. "She came sight unseen," Belzer said, but earned a starting job immediately and a soccer scholarship her last three years.
Catekista started every match of her collegiate career except two this past season, when she had an ankle injury.
She will graduate with a degree in professional accounting and business administration.
BASKETBALL
• Loyola Marymount (Los Angeles): Sophomore Raelen Self (Kamehameha '00) has started 10 of 11 games at point guard for the 8-3 Lions, averaging 21.3 minutes and 3 points per game. She started 12 times last season despite missing seven mid-season games with a broken hand. Coach Julie Wilhoit calls Self one of the hardest-working athletes she has ever coached.
Loyola Marymount plays at No. 14 Colorado State on Friday.
• Pacific (Oregon): Senior Pierre Elliott (Kaiser) leads the men's team in scoring with 13.1 points in 21 minutes per game. He also leads his team in field-goal accuracy at 55.6 percent (45 of 81), and leads the NCAA Division III Northwest Conference in steals with 2.5 per game.
Pierre Elliott, a Kaiser High graduate, is the leading basketball scorer for Pacific University (Oregon).
Elliott, who has had high games of 24 and 22 points this season, "is very athletic and his game has matured over his five years here," coach Ken Schumann said. "He is strong for his size (6-feet-even) and very good at breaking down a defense and penetrating to the basket."
Sophomore Kellen Kaneshiro (Hawai'i Baptist 2000) has played in four games for Pacific.
Sophomore Katannya Kapeli (Kamehameha 2000) of Kane'ohe has started all 10 games for the Pacific women, averaging 9.6 points, 4.7 rebounds and a team-leading 2.4 steals in 24.3 minutes per game. Kapeli transferred from Hawai'i.
Sophomore Kim Morikawa (Moanalua 2000) of Kane'ohe has averaged 7.1 minutes in eight games.
VOLLEYBALL
• Seattle (Wash.): Cassandra Hussey made an indelible first impression on coach Steve Nimocks. Nimocks walked in the back door of a gym in Las Vegas to scout a club tournament two summers ago and Hussey, playing on the court just inside the door, "made two great plays right in front of me."
Nimocks quickly recruited Hussey, a 2000 Kamehameha Schools graduate, to play defensive specialist for Seattle. But so far, she has had to play mostly setter because of injuries to teammates, and earned honorable mention all-conference in 2000.
"Her ball control is exceptional," said Nimocks, who would prefer to play the 5-foot-4 Hussey exclusively in the back row.
With 12 freshmen and sophomores, Seattle improved to 10-19 last fall after going 6-43 since the program was revived in 1999.
