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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Saturday, December 10, 2005

Parents scramble travel plans to reach regional

 •  Rainbow Wahine season ends in tears

By Ann Miller
Advertiser Staff Writer

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Every year Hawai'i racks up an outrageous number of air miles and opponents come to paradise once a year and whine about how tough the trip is. This year, Rainbow Wahine volleyball flew some 52,000 miles. The only team close to that might be their parents.

But getting here, in the middle of Pennsylvania about the time of the season's first big storm, is no bargain. Even the hardy band of traveling parents had problems. They overcame them all.

Victoria Prince's, mom, Brenda and Jessica Keefe's, mom, Deb tried to get in Thursday, from Washington and Iowa. They unexpectedly met in Cincinnati, where both were stranded overnight.

Tara Hittle's mom, Linda Heffner, flew from Denver to Midway in Chicago. That airport was closed down Thursday when a jet ran off the runway. Through the parents' cell phone tree, she was put in touch with Cayley Thurlby's parents (Jackie and Cal). They picked her up at the airport and drove all night, reaching the team hotel at 1:30 p.m. yesterday — less than two hours before the match.

Dal Kamana'o, Kanoe's father, flew to Dulles (Va.) airport Thursday, but his flight here was cancelled because of the storm and rescheduled for Saturday. He begged to be put on standby on an earlier flight, and hoped and prayed. His prayers were answered yesterday. He arrived in State College a half hour before the match started.

Those who came Wednesday missed the snowstorm and counted their blessings, particularly Alicia Arnott's parents, Tom and Nancy. They flew into Chicago Wednesday. It took three planes to get out, with the first one never leaving the gate because of mechanical difficulties and the second aborting its takeoff because of more complications.

Kari Gregory's parents (Kim and Debbie) and Susie Boogaard's (Susan and John) drove in Wednesday after flying to Baltimore and Pittsburgh.

Ashley Watanabe's parents (Janice and Eric) didn't sweat the weather at all. They flew to Austin last week and just went on to Pennsylvania with the team. They felt so fresh, Eric sang for the parents who made it to the hotel Thursday night, and Ashley sat in for a second song.

NOTES

Penn State has a student population of more than 41,000. When school is out, the city of State College has a population of 7,000. It also has the country's second-largest college football stadium. After seven expansions, Beaver Stadium now holds 107,282.

Reach Ann Miller at amiller@honoluluadvertiser.com.