Baldwin grad Rowe swims with best NCAA freshmen
By Dennis Anderson
Advertiser Staff Writer
Caleb Rowe (Baldwin '01) was one of three freshmen in the nation to qualify for the NCAA Division I swimming championships in the breaststroke.
Rowe swam personal bests of 1 minute, 59.09 seconds in the 200 — best on his team — and 55.83 seconds in the 100 for the University of California-Berkeley.
He also scored high in the classrooms at academically oriented Berkeley with a 3.6 GPA.
Rowe has qualified for next month's USA Swimming Summer Nationals in the breaststroke. His goal is to finish in the top nine in the 200 ("by far my better event," he said), which would earn him a place on one of the USA's international teams.
SOFTBALL
• Colorado State
Kailani "Kai" Stone did not intend to play softball again after she graduated from Kailua High in 1997. "I was a little burned out," said Stone, who played three sports year-round in high school.
But Stone wound up starting in center field for Colorado State in more than 100 games the past two years.
"I went off to a place without an ocean, strictly as a student," Stone said. "But after I saw them play, I realized I missed the game and I wanted to see if I could make it at the Division I level.
"I missed friendships you have playing a team sport and I missed being in competition."
Stone said "the first two years were not much, but I never quit anything. I stuck it out" and developed into a solid Division I player.
"Kailani is a very dedicated student-athlete, in the classroom and on the field," coach Mary Yori said. "She got a lot better" during her four-year career.
"She has a very good jump on the ball off the bat and her arm improved a lot. Teams stopped trying to take extra base on her this season," Yori said.
Stone's senior numbers were a .257 batting average (28-for-109), starting all 52 games, and one error in 68 chances for a .985 fielding percentage.
And she continued to be a serious student. She was named to the Mountain West All-Academic team the last two years and graduated with a 3.38 GPA and a degree in health and exercise science.
Stone just completed a post-graduation trip to Europe, and is moving to San Diego, where she hopes to teach or be a personal trainer or strength coach.
FOOTBALL
• Foothill (Calif.) JC
Marshall Sperbeck, who has coached more than 100 players from Hawai'i in his career at Foothill, would like to have a couple more — who are just like Lanakila Kaoni.
Kaoni (Baldwin '01) is a 6-foot-5, 380-pound sophomore offensive lineman who is "getting lots of attention from four-year schools," Sperbeck said.
"I've got good feet and good hands," Kaoni said. "I can play guard or tackle."
Kaoni said he has received offers from West Virginia, Iowa State and Utah. He said he expects to get his AA degree at the end of December or end of winter quarter so that he can participate in spring practice with his next team. He will have three years to play two seasons.
"He's a great kid. He was All-Golden Gate Conference last year and he will be a co-captain," Sperbeck said. "But we have a dire need for other offensive linemen this season to support Kaoni."
Kaoni likes Foothill, which is near the Stanford campus. "There are a lot of Polynesian kids here; it feels like home," he said.
Last year, rover Daniel Murray (Hilo '00) and inside linebacker Keneke Timoteo (Castle '00), both sophomores, made all-conference for Foothill.
It was the second time for Timoteo.
• Portland State (Ore.)
Agatupu Sagapolutele (Farrington '00) will play nose tackle for the Vikings after starting the past two years at Allan Hancock (Calif.) junior college.
Sagapolutele was chosen first-team all-region in California last fall.
"He was undersized at 5-11, 255, but his quickness got him a scholarship," Hancock coach Kris Dutra said. "He is one of my favorite guys."
Portland State quickly remedied the matter of Sagapolutele being "undersized." He was "beefed up" to 280 pounds on Portland State's roster of new scholarship players.
