DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM Deitre Collins, Teee Williams-Slacanin and Judy Mosley- McAfee(left to right) were among the all-time Wahine greats honored last night at the banquet for the 30th anniversary of Hawaii Wahine athletics.

Wahine celebrate
30-year anniversary

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By Cindy Luis

cluis@starbulletin.com

They came from Germany, Sweden and Australia to be here, it was that important. They flew in from Nevada, Pennsylvania and California, it meant that much.

And they came down from Manoa, by bus, some 80 current female athletes, to help celebrate 30 years of women's athletics at the University of Hawaii.

A crowd of some 500 attended last night's dinner at the Hilton Hawaii Village. The program, entitled "Proud Tradition, Bright Future," touched on three decades of Wahine sports with outstanding representatives of teams from the early 1970s to the present.

"It's all about teamwork and how sports prepares you for life," said keynote speaker Maureen O'Toole, a UH swimmer during the 1980s who captained the U.S. women's water polo team at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. "We all had role models and mentors, and it is important that we are also role models and mentors to the next generation. We all need to make a difference."

The evening honored 14 athletes from 11 sports as the "Best All-Time." Among them were All-American volleyball players Deitre Collins, the women's volleyball coach at UNLV; Teee Williams-Slacanin, who just finished her pro volleyball season in Germany; and Angelica Ljungquist, a pro player in Italy, who traveled from her native Sweden to attend.

Also honored were Judy Mosley-McAfee (basketball); Cheryl Smith (cross country); Susan McDaniel Whiting (diving); Marga Stubblefield (golf) and Molly O'Bryan (sailing). Also Demarre Sanchez (soccer); Dana Degen (softball); Jeanne Childs Siragusa (swimming); Rosie Vera Cruz Bareis (tennis); Gwen Loud Johnson (track & field); and Christa Tackaberry (water polo).

"What's so wonderful is that all of the 14 "bests" were able to make it, even if it meant flying in from Europe," said UH Senior Woman Administrator Marilyn Moniz-Kaho'ohanohano, a Wahine volleyball player in the 1970s. "We've worked for nearly a year to put this together and a lot of people worked very hard to bring it all together."

"It's amazing how far it's come," said Jill Nunokawa, a Wahine basketball player in the 1980s, lawyer and vocal proponent of gender equity in high school athletics.

The event also served as the kickoff for the $10 million scholarship drive planned to endow 105 scholarships for UH female athletes.