HAWAI'I HOMEGROWN REPORT
Long jumper Figueira's season ends in injury at Big West meet
By Dennis Anderson
Advertiser Staff Writer
Kelly Figueira, the best female long jumper reared in Hawai'i, tore her left anterior cruciate ligament last weekend at the Big West Conference championships at Northridge, Calif.
Figueira, a freshman at Cal State-Fullerton, long jumped a state-best 19 feet, 3¥ inches for Sacred Hearts Academy on April 28, 2001 — her junior year. She jumped 18-4 1/2 at last week's meet before she was injured.
Figueira will return to Honolulu after her final semester exams this week and will have surgery and rehabilitation here, said her mother, Coralie. "I wish we had better news to share, but that's what life is, ups and downs," she said.
BASEBALL
BYU
Senior center fielder Doug Jackson (Iolani '99 of Kailua) was named first-team All-Mountain West Conference for the second year in a row.
Jackson and Kainoa Obrey, his teammate from Iolani's 1997 and 1998 state championship teams, have been among BYU's dominant offensive players in their Cougar careers.
Jackson was second and Obrey third in batting average for the 30-24 Cougars this season. Jackson led the team in triples and runs scored; Obrey led in slugging average, RBIs and was tied in home runs.
Jackson batted .367 (80 for 218), hit eight triples (fifth in NCAA-I), scored 71 runs, stole 10 bases in 13 tries, and fielded .992 (one error in 118 chances).
Obrey batted .362 (72 for 199), hit 24 doubles (seventh in NCAA-I) and 11 home runs, had a slugging average of .648, and drove in 65 runs, six of them on sacrifice flies. They both started 53 games.
Jackson is near graduation and hoping for a shot at pro ball. Obrey has another year of eligibility because back spasms kept him out last season, but he probably will sign this time. Last June, despite his injury, he was the 318th pick of the major league draft (11th round by the Kansas City Royals).
For his career, Jackson batted .366 (279 for 762) and scored 202 runs.
Obrey batted .356 (231 for 648), hit 34 home runs and had 174 RBIs.
Both had their highest batting averages in 2001 — Obrey a team-leading .388 and Jackson .370.
Why is Obrey likely to be drafted and Jackson hoping? Size and power. Obrey is 6-3, 220; Jackson is 5-7, 155.
The Mountain West Conference Player of the Year was Fernando Valenzuela of UNLV. Son of the same.
ALL-ACADEMIC
St. Louis U.
Senior diver Kristi Cottral (Punahou '99 of Wai'alae Iki) and sophomore No. 1 tennis player Ikaika Jobe (Punahou '01 of Wailupe Circle) were named second-team Verizon Academic All-District.
Cottral, who graduated from St. Louis last weekend with a degree in theological studies, was the Billikens' top diver this year, sweeping both the 1- and 3-meter board competitions at five meets
Twice named Conference USA's Diver of the Week, she finished fifth on 3-meter at the Conference USA Championships with a career-best score of 409.65, which is the second-highest 3-meter score in school history .
In her career, she earned 10 first-place finishes on the 1-meter board and eight in the 3-meter competition.
Jobe, an aviation science major, won his last six matches to post a 13-6 record at No. 1 singles and a 24-9 mark overall to earn a spot on the all-conference third team.
A Conference USA Commissioner's Academic Medal winner last year, he was an Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholar selection this season.
His career singles record is 44-18.
Their precise GPAs were not released.
ROWING
Willamette (Oregon)
Lopaka Purdy, a sophomore from Waimanalo, was in the bow seat of the lightweight-4 that finished fourth at the famous Dad Vail Regatta in Philadelphia.
Junior Rayna Saeki (Lutheran '00 of Kaimuki) was among nine Willamette women rowers — the most of any university in the nation — chosen on the 41-member Division III Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association Scholar-Athlete team (3.50 GPA or higher). Saeki is a junior majoring in psychology.
MEN'S VOLLEYBALL
St. Francis (Penn.)
St. Francis finally got scholarships for volleyball, and coach Mike Rumbaugh finally got libero David Woodward (Damien '01).
Rumbaugh recruited Woodward out of high school, but did not have scholarships to offer. St. Francis, which must compete with Penn State, Ohio State, et al, decided it would need scholarships to do that. Woodward, who wanted to go to St. Francis originally because they have the major he wants — physical therapy and sports medicine — but couldn't afford it.
Doris Sullivan of Hawai'i Athletic Prep Academy negotiated a deal for him and he transferred for the spring semester from Lindenwood (Mo.)
College commitments
Soccer: Second-team all-state forward Nathan Amous, one of the key cogs in Mililani's state championship threepeat, said he has received a $25,000 grant to Carleton College in Minnesota.
It's not for soccer, however. Carleton is an NCAA Division III school that is not allowed to give athletic scholarships. It's for his almost 3.9 grade-point average. He will play soccer, however, and not spend all his time in labs.
Baseball: Campbell outfielder/shortstop Bill Tennent will accept a full tuition, room and books (everything but meals) athletic award from Yavapai (junior) College in Arizona. He is the third player from Hawai'i to be signed by Yavapai this year.
Track and field: Hawai'i Prep's Mikey Vitousek of Kamuela, who qualified for the state boys meet in six events and was Big Island football Defensive Player of the Year, will attend Bowdoin College in Maine and plans to play both sports. He was the Big Island champion in both hurdle events, and high and triple jumped and ran on two relay teams.
Mililani's Chun Mei Nickles, who set a state meet pole vault record of 11 feet, 4 inches last weekend, will attend Southern California for academic pursuits and probably will not turn out for track, she said.
