Hawai'i Prep's Kopra will swim for Brown

By Dennis Anderson
Advertiser Staff Writer

Sometimes you just have to face up to the tough decisions in life.

That was the case with two-time state high school breaststroke swimming champion Karly Kopra of Hawai'i Prep last week.

Which offers from two Ivy League universities should she accept?

"You can't make a bad choice between those two," Kopra said. "It took me six days to decide after I got back from the recruiting trip."

Kopra picked Brown, in Providence, R.I., where she will swim for the fun of it (Ivy League colleges do not give athletic scholarships) and play water polo.

"Cornell was wonderful but Brown is awesome," Kopra said. "I love the campus, the girls on the team are really nice, the student body is very diverse and many of the kids have really cool life stories. Also, it's smaller and has nicer pool facilities and I like the curriculum."

In high school, Kopra won the state 100-yard breaststroke title in her freshman and senior years, and also won All-Big Island recognition in volleyball and soccer.

And she pulled a 4.1 (A-plus) weighted grade-point average, taking mostly college-level and honors courses.

Commitments announced Friday by Doris Sullivan, student services director of Hawai'i Athletic Prep Academy, a non-profit agency that helps student-athletes find college scholarships:

• Ian Ichimura, Baldwin soccer, a first-team All-Maui defender, has been invited to walk on at Gonzaga (Wash.). Gonzaga has an impressive list of soccer success stories from Hawai'i, including Major League Soccer's Brian Ching (Kamehameha) and UH Wahine goalkeeper coach Josh Fouts (Kalaheo).

• Gered Mochizuki, Baldwin baseball shortstop/pitcher, full scholarship to Yavapai (junior college) in Arizona.

• Scott Yasamoto, Pearl City baseball center fielder, to Pacific (Oregon).

Also, Iolani basketball player Robert "Gage" Eberlin will attend Andover prep school in Massachusetts, the alma mater of presidents Kennedy and George W. Bush. Eberlin, 6-feet-6, was not a major factor in Iolani's drive to the last two state championships, but coach Mark Mugiishi says, "I believe he is one of those late bloomers who has lots of potential."

Andover is one of 10 prep schools that offer a "post-graduate year" of high school that does not count against college eligibility.