Lee qualifies for NCAA wrestling meet
By Dennis Anderson
Advertiser Staff Writer
St. Louis School graduate Travis Lee was the only freshman to win a championship at the 13-team Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association tournament.
Lee, wrestling for Cornell (New York), defeated last year's Ivy League Rookie of the Year in the semifinal and beat the No. 1 seed in the final of the 125-pound division.
Lee, ranked 15th nationally (second highest freshman) before the tournament by Amateur Wrestling News, qualified for the NCAA Division I championships March 21-23 in Albany, N.Y., and made a major claim to being selected Ivy League Rookie of the Year. His record is 28-7.
In the championship match Sunday, Lee broke a 2-2 tie with top-seeded Mario Stuart of Lehigh with an escape in the third period and rode him out in the final 30 seconds to win 5-2. In the semifinal, Lee upset 12th-ranked Mason Lenhard of Pennsylvania, to whom he had lost 11-8 last month.
Last year, Lee won his third straight state high school championship and became the first wrestler from Hawai'i to win a Junior National championship. He attends Cornell on an academic scholarship for his 3.85 high school grade-point average.
TENNIS
• Santa Clara (Calif.)
Freshman Janalle Kaloi (Kamehameha '01) of Wahiawa on Monday was named West Coast Conference Player of the month for February in both singles and doubles.
Kaloi was 6-1 in singles for the month, including four straight-set victories and two love victories. She has won nine of her last 10, losing only to a player from UNLV.
In doubles, Kaloi and partner Mariko Kawakami of Seattle were 3-2 in February.
"This is really cool for a freshman," Santa Clara coach Aby Ryan said. "Janalle's best tennis is yet to come, as she learns to move forward and come to the net. She has amazing hands at the net, but she hasn't put that all together yet.
"Other coaches say she has one of the best forehands they've seen.
"Janalle applies instructions right away; you teach her something and she uses it in the next match. You don't always see that with freshmen.
"She's a student of the game and a serious student at school."
Kaloi was a two-time state high school doubles champion in Hawai'i and was nationally ranked in her age group.
Freshman Chris Lam of Honolulu, who was home-schooled, and junior Mike Bruggemann (Punahou '98) are doubles partners for Santa Clara's men's team.
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
• The Big Dance
Two players from Hawai'i will play in the NCAA Division I Tournament this weekend. Senior Cian Carvalho (Kapa'a) starts for Pac-10 Tournament champion Arizona State (24-7), which plays Wisconsin in a first-round game Saturday in Nashville, Tenn. Freshman Brandy Richardson (Kalaheo '01) averages 15.2 minutes per game and has started 10 times for University of California-Santa Barbara, which will put the nation's second longest winning streak of 21 games on the line against WAC champion Louisiana Tech Friday in Austin, Texas. Though she ranks eighth in minutes-played for UCSB, Richardson is fourth in rebounding with 4.3 per game.
• Cal State-Los Angeles
Monica Tokoro (Iolani '01) of 'Aiea was the only freshman named first-team All-California Collegiate Athletic Association in either men's or women's basketball this season.
Tokoro led her team and was seventh in the conference in scoring at 14.0 points per game and ranks 19th in NCAA Division II with 5.5 assists per game.
"Monica was phenomenal this year," coach Marcia Murota said. "She took our conference by storm right from the start of the season. For a point guard to be named first team in this league is pretty special ... most of the all-conference players in the CCAA are forwards and centers. As far as I'm concerned, Monica may be only 5-3, but she plays like a six-footer."
Tokoro exceeded her own expectations. "My goal this year was just to get as much playing time as I could. Once I got the chance to get in there, I just wanted to do the best I could and get better this season," she said.
• Missouri Valley
Freshman Megan Fong (Roosevelt '01) played about half of each game as back-up point guard. "She could have started but she felt more comfortable coming off the bench. Her future is really bright," coach Bill Wolf said.
Maricris Sierra (Nanakuli) started practice six weeks late because of the ACL injury that ended her all-state senior year prematurely last April. She played in 11 games and Wolf says "I expect her to be a good player."
Sophomore Carleen Harden (Sacred Hearts) of 'Aiea and freshman Kayla Richie (Mililani '01) played on the junior varsity. Wolf said Richie has a 28-inch vertical leap, best in the history of the program, and might make the varsity with her defensive skills.
• Concordia (Oregon)
Junior Sina Gago (McKinley '97) of La'ie and freshman Ipo Keopuhiwa (Nanakuli '01) contributed off the bench as Concordia won 16 of its last 20 games to achieve its best record (20-10) since 1988-89.
Gago previously was an all-conference player at Clackamas Community College. With six seniors leaving, Gago and Keopuhiwa could be Concordia's starting guards next season, coach Miriam Jenkins said.
WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
• Frank Phillips (Texas) JC
"You couldn't sum up in one article the kind of impact she made for us," coach David Rehr says about Litiana Vakasausau (University '01) of Kaimuki. "She is everything you would ever want in a player — a godsend. If I could get more people like her it would be perfect."
Vakasausau, whose older sister Margaret plays at Hawai'i, is a solid, 5-foot-10 right outside hitter. She was chosen all-conference and the team's Most Valuable Player after she led her team into the NJCAA regional championship match and a 30-6 record.
"We're building our team around her," Rehr said.
Frank Phillips is located in Borger, Texas, north of Amarillo. Rehr found out about Vakasausau when she played in a junior tournament in Las Vegas.
RIFLERY
• Nevada
Freshman Ryan Tanoue (St. Louis '01) of Kaimuki is among 13 individuals who qualified for the National Collegiate Men's and Women's Rifle Championships Friday at Murray State University in Kentucky. Each competitor will get 40 shots.
Nevada was among eight colleges that qualified for team air rifle competition, which will be held Saturday. In addition to Tanoue, the Nevada team includes senior Jayde Look (Hawai'i Baptist '97) and her brother, sophomore Travis Look (St. Louis '99), both of Kaimuki.
GOLF
• Pepperdine
Rachel Kyono (Kaua'i '01) of Lawai, last year's Hawai'i high school girls champion, had a break-out tournament in the Spartan Invitational at Salinas. Kyono opened with her collegiate-best 72 and followed with two 76s to finish at 224 — her best collegiate tournament by 10 strokes. She tied for 21st in the 16-team event.
Kyono's average for 18 rounds is 78.72.
She has a pair of 65s in her high school resume.
Sophomore Andria Chatfield (Kamehameha '00) of Kailua-Kona also is on the Pepperdine roster.
GYMNASTICS
• Maryland
The reason Mandy Pascual (Punahou '01) of 'Aiea is not competing this season is that a preseason MRI disclosed a tiny fracture of the navicular bone in her right foot, which she had first broken last year during a performance at the Punahou Carnival. Two pins were inserted in January.
"I can't wait for her to get back in a leotard and help us competitively," coach Bob Nelligan said. "Our team probably would have maintained a top-15 ranking easily with her doing uneven bars; she's that good."
