Wilfred Navalta, who guided Brigham Young-Hawaii to a perfect conference record and the No. 1 national ranking as the Seasiders made a triumphant transition from NAIA to NCAA Division II women's volleyball power, was named the PacWest Conference Coach of the Year yesterday. Seasiders grab
PacWest prizesFour of Navalta's players -- Arlete Silva, Becky Laubach, Julia Lima and Vanessa Valansi -- were first-team selections on the All-Conference Pacific Division honor roll. The other two first-team spots went to Hawaii Pacific standouts Debbi Sant'Anna and Hai Yan Wang.
Tita Ahuna of Hawaii Pacific was the runner-up to Navalta in Coach of the Year voting.
BYUH and HPU finished 1-2 in their first PacWest season.
ACADEMIC STARS: Hawaii Pacific's Erika Evans and Jannicke Snildal were named to the PacWest Academic All-Conference women's soccer team yesterday.
Selected to the men's honors squad were Claus Peterson and Elie Sauma of the Sea Warriors and Elias Akinaka of Brigham Young-Hawaii.
Among other athletic-academic standouts given all-PacWest recognition were Arlete Silva and Vanessa Valansi of the BYUH women's volleyball team and Jennifer Bonny of the Seasiders' cross-country team.
HPU WINS HOOPS DEBUT: The Hawaii Pacific Sea Warriors defeated the United States Marines-Hawaii, 121-77, in an exhibition basketball game at Blaisdell Arena last night.
Willie Flowers led the way for HPU with 31 points, hitting 4 of 5 from behind the 3-point arc. DeWayne Allen and Jemar Miller had 28 and 20 points, respectively, for the Sea Warriors.
HPU point guard Shannon Lee had a double-double of 11 points and 10 assists.
REICHEL IN HULA BOWL SHOW: Contemporary Hawaiian music superstar Kealii Reichel will join country music sensation LeAnn Rimes as part of the Hooters Hula Bowl postgame concert at Maui's War Memorial Stadium on Jan. 24.
Rimes also will perform in the halftime show at the all-star football game.
KARATE-DO MEET: The 1998 Honolulu International Karate-Do Championships, featuring top martial artists from around the world, will be held in conjunction with the 39th annual All Hawaii State Karate-Do Championships on Sunday, Nov. 22, at the Halawa District Park Gym.
Doors open at 9 a.m. and tickets will be available at the door. For more information, call Sensei Chuzo Kotaka at 395-1774.
KAAA ON HONOR ROLL: Cherish Kaaa, a Linfield (Ore.) College sophomore from Kapolei, earned honorable mention on the Northwest Conference women's all-star soccer team.
CHEERLEADING CLINIC: The UH Cheer Team is putting on a cheerleading clinic on Dec. 5 from 2-5 p.m. at the UH Athletic Complex, Studios 2 and 3. The clinic, which is open to all high school cheerleaders, will focus on basketball cheers, chants and dances. Cost is $10 per person.
For information, call 956-4503.