Junior Nick Borreca, a 2002 Punahou graduate, is one of the University of Florida's fastest sprinters in this week's NCAA championship meet, where he will compete in three individual events.
In the Nick of time
After three years, Nick Borreca
has finally qualified for the NCAA
Championships
Nick Borreca has been paddling upstream for over three years now, but he's finally made it to the big water.
Borreca, a 2002 Punahou School graduate from Manoa, will swim for the University of Florida in up to seven events at the NCAA men's swimming championships which start today in Minneapolis.
Borreca's bestsShort course, distances in yards» 50 freestyle: 19.97 (Tied for 31st in NCAA) » 100 freestyle: 44.65 (No. 83 in NCAA) » 200 butterfly: 1:46.91 (Tied for 39th in NCAA)
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Borreca, a junior, also will swim in three individual events: 50-yard freestyle today (he shares Florida's best time of 19.97 seconds); the 200 butterfly (1:46.91) tomorrow and the 100 freestyle on Saturday (he has gone 44.65).
He also will lead off Florida's sixth-ranked 200 freestyle relay today and may swim in the 400 freestyle relay (Florida is ranked third) that ends the meet Saturday night.
Anchoring medley relays, especially the shorter one, are also possibilities.
If Florida is in the championship mix with No. 1-ranked California and eight-time NCAA champion Stanford going into the final event, it will be because "guys like Nick step up and do things they have never done before," Troy said.
That's the opportunity Borreca has been fighting for.
He was a high-school phenom at Punahou, setting still-standing state meet records of 20.8 seconds in the 50 freestyle and 45.24 in the 100 in the 2001 HHSAA championships.
But in December 2001, as he was starting what should have been a fabulous senior season, Borreca got mononucleosis.
"It was a very bad case," remembers his mother, June Borreca. "For a while he looked like a raccoon with swollen eyes and face.
"His doctor didn't want him to swim for at least six months, but Nick was able to bounce back in time for the 2002 state high school meet in February."
He won another gold in the 50, almost as fast as the previous year.
Next was Florida, which had signed Borreca to a 50-percent scholarship before he got sick.
But fate and bad luck weren't through with Nick yet.
About a month into his freshman year in Gainesville, Borreca tried driving a moped for the first time.
"We were racing to the alligator ponds and I flipped it and was knocked out," Borreca said. "I was in the hospital two nights and was not allowed to swim for a month.
"Being out of the water so long, it was not a good season at all.
"On top of that, I was really homesick. It was the hardest year of my life."
Whether the mono was lingering, or he was not adjusting to the climate and food in Florida, Borreca said that, "for the first couple of years, I was sick a lot -- seeing doctors, on antibiotics all the time."
This season, his third at Florida, has been different.
He made the Southeastern Conference academic honor roll last semester, and "in our first meet of the season, I won all four things I was entered in. I realized I had a shot at turning things around."
"I've had my best times this season, meet after meet," Borreca said.
"My goals this year were first, to better all my times, which I did, and, second, make the NCAA championship team. One of the biggest things you can do in Division I is to get to the championships.
"Last year I missed it by one-tenth of a second and I was real disappointed.
"I'm glad I am at the show right now," he added from his Minneapolis hotel room Monday night. "It's a huge weight off my shoulders."
Richardson joins the
‘Home Run Club’
at Adams State
Adams State (Colo.) senior second baseman Nina Richardson (Iolani '00 of Kalama Valley) hit her first home run in her 76th college-career game on Saturday against Fort Hays State. It felt so good she did it again on Sunday.
"I used to get it to the top of the fence, but I couldn't get it over," Richardson said.
Joining her team's "home run club" feels great Richardson said. "All I ever wanted to do was have one for the year.
Richardson said Adams' "home run club" competes to see who can do the best dance at home plate.
"Mine looks good in my head, but maybe not to anybody else," she said.
Richardson, who took last season off to recharge her enthusiasm, is batting .308 -- 35 points over her career average through 2003.
Her season is not without pain -- a subluxed shoulder.
She transferred from Hawaii to Adams in 2002 to walk on to the basketball team, but after a week she decided softball was more fun and she earned a scholarship after her first fall season.
Richardson graduated last May in psychology and is taking only two classes while working on her master's in health and physical education.
She wants to teach 7-year-olds how to hit home runs.
TAFT (California) JC
Just as players from Hawaii powered its women's volleyball team into the California community college championship tournament in November, four Oahu girls have done a lot of the heavy lifting in a so-far superlative softball season at Taft. "They are the key reason the Cougars are 24-5 this season (8-1 and leading the Central Valley Conference) and are ranked No. 5 in the state," Taft's Dennis McCall said.
McCall, Taft's sports information director, reported: "Alexis San Nicolas (Leilehua '04) has been superb as a pitcher and is the leading hitter on the team.
"She injured her right (pitching) shoulder in a tournament and our coach was trying to keep her out of the circle for a while, but our No. 1 pitcher severely sprained an ankle so 'Lexy' had to tough it out."
She lost two games but won three last week. The fifth game was a 5-inning no-hitter over West Hills (Coalinga).
As a pitcher she is 9-4 and her ERA was 2.80 (0.78 in conference) before last week.
She is hitting .479 with 34 runs batted in, which ties her for the state lead. She leads the state in doubles with 18 (the next highest is 11 by Taft's Jalen Garcia (Campbell '03).
San Nicolas is tied with teammate Pikake Nutter-Gaudet (Leilehua '04) for the state lead in home runs with six.
Nutter-Gaudet is hitting .456, and has a state-leading 34 RBIs. Garcia is hitting .383 with 28 RBIs, 11 doubles, four triples (tied for the state lead), and five homers.
Sophomore Lehua Yap (Nanakuli '03) is hitting .414 with 18 RBIs, five doubles, two triples and four homers. (Yap won All-Northern California honors in softball last spring and was an all-state setter in volleyball last fall).
"Collectively, these four have 21 of the team's 25 home runs, nine of 15 triples, 44 of 74 doubles, 114 of 170 RBI, and 158 of the team's 309 hits," McCall said.
(Taft assistant volleyball coach Keali'i Pearl was scheduled to undergo surgery this week at USC Medical Center to have her cancerous scapula removed and replaced with an artificial one, McCall said.)
California (Berkeley)
All-America senior center fielder Kaleo Eldredge (Baldwin '01) went 3-for-5 with three runs, three RBIs and a home run Saturday as the No. 2 Bears split two games in the Capital Classic at Sacramento. She was nominated for Pac-10 Player of the Week. Yesterday, Eldredge hit a towering, two-run home run over the right-field wall in the first inning -- her fourth of the year -- to start Cal toward a 13-5 victory over Pacific (California) in Berkeley.
BYU (Utah)
Junior third baseman Ashlyn Russell (Baldwin '02) hit two more home runs against Illinois on Friday and has 10 for the season. Russell is batting .375 (18-for-48) with 21 RBIs in 19 games. Her slugging average is an even 1.000.Junior first baseman 'Neta Lei (Iolani '02 of Mililani) is hitting .362 (17-for-47) for the Cougars with 17 RBIs and five home runs in 17 games. BYU is 16-3.
Redlands (California)
Redlands, with two starters from Hawaii, has won 17 of its last 19 and is 8-0 in the NCAA-III Southern California conference (SCIAC).Junior third baseman Shelly Joslin (Kamehameha '02 of Waipahu) is hitting .340 (17-for-50) and senior second baseman Courtney Cho (Kamehameha '01 of Aiea), a four-year starter, is fielding .976 (two errors in 82 chances), but is struggling at the plate hitting .250 (15-for-60).
Last season, Cho hit .320 and won the team's Golden Glove award.
Menlo (California)
The Oaks have won eight of their last 12 to climb above .500 at 12-11.Two of Menlo's starting outfielders during the surge are from Oahu -- sophomore left fielder Sheena Kipu (Waianae '01 of Waipahu) and freshman right fielder Layla Lariosa (University '04 of Ewa Beach).
Lariosa is batting .273 (6-for-22) and Kipu is hitting .186 (8-for-43).
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