Posted on: Wednesday, December 8, 2004
HOMEGROWN REPORT
Punahou grads reunite at water polo nationals
By Leila Wai
Advertiser Staff Writer
With three of the four teams in last weekend's NCAA Men's Water Polo National Collegiate Championship featuring players from Punahou, UCLA's C.J. Smith knew a national title would likely come down to a face-off with one of his former high school teammates.
"It was awesome, I still can't believe we pulled it off," Smith, a 2003 graduate of Punahou, said.
Stanford's Forrest Schwartz and Princeton's Kyle Morgan also are 2003 Punahou graduates and former teammates of Smith. UCLA's Dave Pietsch is a 2001 Punahou grad, and Bruins assistant coach and Olympian Brandon Brooks is a 1999 Punahou grad.
"We definitely felt confident," said Smith, a freshman who did not get in the game. "We beat them twice before this year."
Smith said there was "a little" trash talking between himself and Morgan, one of his best friends.
"They (Princeton) were a pretty solid team," Smith said. "We beat them in overtime (7-5), too."
Football
• Colorado freshman linebacker Jordon Dizon (Waimea '04) was named the SBC Big 12 Defensive Freshman of the Year. Dizon, 6 feet 1 and 210 pounds, set a Colorado freshman record with 78 total tackles, ranking third on the team.
Junior defensive lineman Vaka Manupuna (Saint Louis '01 of Kane'ohe) was chosen honorable mention.
Women's Volleyball
• Two teams featuring players from Hawai'i, not including the University of Hawai'i Rainbow Wahine, remain in the NCAA Division I Volleyball Tournament. • Washington freshman defensive specialist Ashley Aratani (Iolani '04 of Honolulu) served an ace in the Huskies' second-round win over Kansas. Mike Johnson (Kamehameha '98) is an assistant coach for the Huskies (26-2), who play St. Mary's (17-12) Friday. • Stanford senior libero Leahi Hall (King Kekaulike '00 of Ha'iku) had one dig in a win over Jacksonville and five digs in a win over Florida. The Cardinal (26-6) plays Texas (26-4) Friday. If you know of any athletes deserving of recognition, give us their names, high schools and graduation years, colleges and sports. E-mail us at: homegrown@ Menlo (Calif.) junior outside hitter/libero/setter Kari Shimomura (McKinley '02 of Kaimuki) carries a 3.55 grade point average in business management, and Trinity Christian College (Ill.) senior Jennifer Narimatsu (Moanalua '01) is an elementary education major.
Narimatsu was also named a National Christian College Athletic Association scholar-athlete.
• College of the Siskiyous (Weed, Calif.) sophomore outside hitter Tania Liufau (McKinley '03 of Honolulu) was named to the all-state junior college volleyball team. She averaged 4.6 kills per game, with 393 kills in 654 attempts, a percentage of .470 and was named to the all-Golden Valley Conference team.
• Long Beach City College sophomore outside hitter/middle blocker Johnna Morita (McKinley '02) was named to the all-Southern California second team. • Taft College (Calif.) sophomore setter Lehua Yap (Nanakuli) was named the Central Valley Conference's most valuable player, and was selected to the All-Northern California and All-State teams. Freshman outside hitter Kaena Apana (Nanakuli) was a first team all-Central Valley Conference, all-Northern California and all-state selection, and sophomore middle Janice Fonoti (Farrington) and freshman outside hitter Pikake Nutter-Gaudet (Leilehua) were named first-team all-Central Valley Conference.
Freshman middle blocker Paepaetele Poasa (Farrington) was a second-team all-conference selection.
Taft head coach Kanoe Bandy, who has family from Hawai'i, was named the conference and Northern California coach of the year and was selected as one of two Tachikara/AVCA Two-Year College Region Coaches of the Year for leading the Cougars to the conference title.
• Notre Dame de Namur (San Francisco) senior Jamie Makiya (St. Andrew's of Kailua) was named the Cal Pac Libero of the Year. She led the team with 5.52 digs per game. • Santa Barbara City College sophomore libero Kalei Lau (Hilo '02) was named the team's MVP at its awards banquet. She is a two-time Western State Conference first-team selection.
Women's Soccer
• A trio of junior midfielders from Hawai'i were selected to the Fall Academic all-Ivy Team. Cornell's Kara Ishikawa (Iolani of Mililani), a biological sciences major, Harvard's Maile Tavepholjalern (attended Punahou, from Honolulu), applied mathematics major, and Princeton's Romy Trigg-Smith (Punahou '02 of Kailua), an architecture major, were selected.
• Missouri Valley College junior defender Jen Katres (Kalaheo of Kailua) was named a Daktronics-NAIA Women's Soccer All-America Scholar Athlete. She is a biology major. • Missouri Valley College sophomore midfielder Lindsey Peck (Kalaheo of Kailua) was named to the Heart of America Athletic Conference first team. Men's Soccer
• Seattle senior defender Jordan Inouye (Kaiser of Honolulu) helped lead his team to its first NCAA Division II men's soccer national title. Seattle beat Southern Illinois-Edwardsville, 2-1, for the title Sunday. Seattle (22-0-1) earned its first NCAA title in any sport at any level in the history of the school.
Women's Basketball
• Eastern Kentucky sophomore center Fatai Hala'api'api (Lahainaluna '02) is out for the season after injuring her knee, according to EKU sports information director Amy Ratliff. Wrestling
• Cornell senior Travis Lee (Saint Louis '01 of Liliha) defeated Purdue's Chris Fleeger in a rematch of the 2003 125-pound national championship at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational Saturday. Lee was named the tournament's most outstanding wrestler after posting a 6-0 record, including four bonus wins.
Reach Leila Wai at lwai@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2457.
UCLA defeated Stanford, 10-9, in overtime Sunday to claim its eighth title.
• Two players from Hawai'i were named Daktronics-NAIA Volleyball All-America Scholar Athletes.
LET US KNOW
honoluluadvertiser.com or contact Leila Wai at 535-2457.
