ISLE FILE
Three Hawai'i wrestlers win gold

Advertiser Staff

Three high school seniors from Hawai'i won gold medals and two others earned silver yesterday at the U.S. Girls Wrestling Association National Championships at Lake Orion, Mich.

Hawai'i's high-school division champions were:

• Melissa Fukushima of Punahou at 114 pounds, in which she was runner-up last year.
• Shani Alvarado of Moanalua at 138 pounds.
• Stephany Lee of Moanalua at 152 pounds.

Silver medal winners were:

• Jennifer Miyahira of Mid-Pacific, was pinned by the USGWA's first four-time champion, Alaina Berube of Michigan, in the 126-pound final.
• Anna Tong of Kaiser, who was runner-up for the second year in a row at 144 pounds. Tong also was pinned.

Hawai'i placed third in team scoring behind California and Michigan.

The 24 members of Team Hawai'i won a total of 17 medals, which were awarded for the first 12 places.

Alvarado won her final by a pin with 12 seconds left in the first round. Fukushima and Lee won by decisions.

"This is a bonus," Alvarado said in a voice cracked and hoarse from yelling and cold weather. "I had concentrated on states (she won her second state title in three years) and just came here to have fun. But when I got here, I focused a little bit more.

"I wasn't sure if I wanted to wrestle in college, but now I do."

Lee has won three state championships and now a national title, all with a right rotator cuff injury. "It happened my sophomore year, I may need surgery," she said.

It was 18 degrees in Lake Orion, about 30 miles north of Detroit, and the Hawai'i girls played in snow before competition began.

Hawai'i was one of the first states to sanction girls high school wrestling; its first state championship meet was held in 1998.

Yesterday's gold- and silver-medal winners are all four-year veterans of the Hawai 'i program.

Melissa Orden of McKinley and Shanel Vivas of Kahuku lost in the semifinals yesterday and Orden defeated Vivas 12-6 for fifth place. Orden's 10-9 loss was one of the closest and most controversial of the semifinals.

There were 428 entrants in the tournament, significant growth from its origins several years ago. State championships were held in more than 22 states this year.

JUDO

• Ito named most outstanding: Masami Ito was awarded the trophy for Outstanding Female Athlete at the 2002 USA Judo Collegiate National Championships held at San Jose State on March 16-17.

Ito, from Hawai'i Tokai International College (HTIC), won the gold medal in the women's 57 kg division.

Her HTIC teammate Morgan Koyama won the silver in the men's 66 kg division and placed second as the Outstanding Male Athlete.

SOFTBALL

• Hawai'i falls to Hofstra: Amanda Hallaway singled in Heather Brousseau in the fifth inning with the go-ahead run as Hofstra defeated Hawai'i, 2-1, in an elimination game of the Hawai'i Invitational yesterday at the Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium.

Hofstra scored in the first on an RBI single by Stefanie Kenney.

Hawai'i (21-15) tied it on a Marie Jackson RBI single in the fourth.

In other elimination games: Nittaidai #2 beat Nittaidai #1, 4-3; Northwestern beat Nittaidai #2, 4-1; California beat Hofstra, 15-2.

In the championship game, California beat Northwestern, 9-0, behind a one-hit, six-inning shutout by Jocelyn Forest.

Hawai'i 000 100 0—1 8 1

Hofstra 100 010 X—2 9 2

WP—Sara DeAngelis. LP—Melissa Coogan. Leading Hitters: UH—Stacie Hirano 3-4, triple; Marie Jackson 2-3. Hof—Heather Brousseau 2-3, double, 2 runs; Stefanie Kenney 2-3; Amanda Hallaway 3-3; Adrienne Clark 2-2.

• HPU sweeps: Mallory Anderson pitched a three-hit shutout as Hawai'i Pacific beat Eastern Oregon, 8-0, to earn a sweep of a doubleheader yesterday at the HPU Windward field.

The Sea Warriors' Tascha Berinobis batted 2-for-4 with three RBIs and Brady Choy Foo scored three runs.

In the first game, Malia Sullivan and Anderson combined on a six-hitter in a 2-1 win.

Sullivan pitched the first 6¡ innings, giving up a run with one walk and no strikeouts. Anderson picked up the save by recording the final two outs.

HPU improved to 18-7. Eastern Oregon dropped to 3-5.

EASTERN Oregon 000 000—0 3 4

HAWAI'I PACIFIC 102 032—8 8 1

WP—Mallory Anderson. LP—Kathy Bielemeier. Leading Hitters: EO—Majalise Watson 2-3. HPU—Brandy Choy Foo 2-3, 2 doubles, 3 runs; Kim Fukumoto 2 RBIs; Tascha Berinobis 2-4, 3 RBIs.

EASTERN Oregon 000 000 1—1 6 0

HAWAI'I PACIFIC 110 000 X—2 4 2

WP—Malia Sullivan. LP—Katie Martin. Leading Hitters: EO—Tonilynn Reardon 2-4; Christina Pevey 2-3, double.