HAWAI'I HOMEGROWN REPORT
Cal's Eldredge will be tested at Softball World Series
By Dennis Anderson
Advertiser Staff Writer
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| Cal's Kaleo Eldredge, a graduate of Baldwin High, will be busy on the field and taking final exams at the College World Series.
John Dunbar UC-Berkeley |
Eldredge, a sophomore center fielder, has started 128 games for Cal since she arrived from Baldwin High in Wailuku in 2001.
Eldredge led the Region 7 tournament in batting last week with a .545 average (6 for 11) and was chosen on the all-tournament team. She also was named second-team All-Pacific region by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association.
California plays seven-time national champion UCLA today at 4 p.m. Hawai'i time (live on ESPN2). The Golden Bears will meet the winner or loser of tomorrow's Texas vs. Louisiana-Lafayette game, tomorrow at 2 p.m. HST (live on ESPN2) if they win today, and Saturday at 10 a.m. (live on ESPN2) if they lose.
For television viewers, Eldredge advises: "I wear No. 10 in our white uniform and No. 7 in gray since they lost my No. 10."
This is finals week in Berkeley and the fact the softball team is in Oklahoma City is not an acceptable excuse. Eldredge took a final in ESPM yesterday — no that's not TV sports, it is Environmental Science Policy Management. Before today's game, she must take a final in anthropology.
The examinations are faxed to the Marriott Hotel, where the team is staying, and assistant athletic directors administer them the same way the rest of the class takes them.
For the season, Eldredge's bat has been awake .322 of the time (47 for 146) and wide awake with runners in scoring position (28 RBIs in 54 games).
MORE SOFTBALL
All-West Region Pacific senior Estée Okumura (Punahou '99 of Kapahulu) and BYU freshman utility fielder Ianeta Lei (Iolani '02 of Mililani) were named second-team All-West Region outfielders by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association.
Okumura will leave Stockton with Pacific's career RBI record of 134 and ranked in the top 10 in career batting average, hits, doubles, triples, home runs and stolen bases.
Lei, also a first-team All-Mountain West Conference selection, batted .346 for BYU, with 53 hits and seven home runs.
Though selected as an outfielder, she played first base the second half of the season.
TRACK & FIELD
Michigan
Junior Vera (Call me "Iwalani") Simms won the Big Ten women's 400-meter hurdles championship for the second year in a row Sunday in Minneapolis.
Simms, a 2000 Mililani High graduate, quieted the crowd at U. of Minnesota stadium by beating hometown favorite Shani Marks by nearly half-a-second in 58.78.
Next up for Simms is the NCAA Mid-East Regional at Ohio State May 30-31. Simms is ranked third in the region on her school record 58.43 — it was the nation's fastest when she did it on March 22.
"I've been struggling a little bit with my steps and my form," Simms said Tuesday. "I'm not exactly where I wanted to be at this point, but I'm really, really happy that I won Big Tens and I hope I can use that as point to move from. I'm in shape and ready."
Oregon
Senior Eri Macdonald (Punahou '99 of Kailua) had her highest Pac-10 finish in her last Pac-10 race, seventh place in the 800 meters in 2:10.87. She will be in the NCAA West Regional at Stanford May 30-31.
Senior Alicia Snyder-Carlson (St. Anthony '99 of Kihei) ran her third-fastest 3000-meter steeplechase of 11:10.15 but finished ninth and will not advance.
Big West Conference
Idaho senior Aloha Santiago (Baldwin '98 of Kihei) placed third in the shot put (48-8fl), fifth in the hammer throw (season-best 171-4) and 10th in the discus (144-11) to help Idaho win the Big West women's championship.
Cal State-Fullerton freshman Kelly Figueira (Sacred Hearts '02 of Kaimuki) long jumped 18-4ý for eighth place.
Cornell (N.Y.)
Sophomore Ryan Schmidt (Ka'ahumanu Hou '00 of Wailuku) tied for eighth in the IC-4A high jump championships at 6 feet, 8 inches. Athletes from more than 100 schools were entered in last weekend's meet at Princeton, N.J.
GOLF
Stanford
Senior Jim Seki (Punahou '99 of Salt Lake) finished his collegiate career with his worst career score — 79-84-71 — 234.
Seki tied for 106th in the NCAA Western Regional but refused to blame the constant pain in his back. "I just didn't play well; I couldn't keep the ball in play," he said.
Seki was the Pac-10 champion in 2002 but did not qualify for the NCAA championships.
Pepperdine
Sophomore Rachel Kyono (Kaua'i '01) is tied for 49th at 82-76 — 158 after two rounds of the NCAA Women's Championships at the Boilermaker Golf Complex in West Lafayette, Ind., but the Pepperdine team is in third place with two rounds to go.
Kyono ranks fourth for the Waves this season with a 76.5 stroke average.
Kyono was the state high school girls' champion in 2001.
TENNIS
UCLA
Sophomore Chris Lam lost to Oscar Chow of Columbia, 6-3, 6-2, yesterday in the first round of singles in the 64-player NCAA Division I Championship Tournament at the University of Georgia.
Lam was No. 37 in the Omni Hotels/Intercollegiate Tennis Association computer rankings. The loss dropped his final season record to 33-11. Chow, from Vancouver, B.C., was 68th.
On Monday, Lam and UCLA lost to Vanderbilt in the semifinals of the team championship. Vandy tied the score at 3 when Lam lost a rain-delayed fourth singles match to Scott Brown, 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-2. The Commodores then won the deciding match to advance to yesterday's championship match against Illinois.
UCLA, sixth-seeded, finished its team season 24-4.
Lam was home-schooled in Kaimuki.
Santa Clara
Senior Michael Bruggemann (Punahou '98 of Wai'alae Iki) set a school record of 66 career doubles victories. Bruggemann and partner Erich Chen this year tied the school season record of 19 doubles victories that he set with Ryan Livesay in 2001.
Bruggemann was co-captain of the Broncos and was chosen All-West Coast Conference by coaches. "He is one of the best doubles players ever at Santa Clara," school spokeswoman Lisa Eskey said.
Idaho
Junior Brad Lum-Tucker (Kaua'i '00) was named to the All-Big West Conference first team.
