Hawaii Grown: College Athletics
Al Chase
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Agard enjoys coaching, Vermont
Ed Agard is the top assistant men's basketball coach at Middlebury (Vt.) College. Originally from Brooklyn, N.Y., Agard graduated from Hawaii in 1970 after playing three seasons with the Rainbows.
Agard just completed his sixth season with the Panthers, who got off to a 7-0 start before finishing 12-12.
Before joining the Panthers, Agard was an assistant at Green Mountain College in Poultry, Vt., where he helped the Eagles qualify for the NAIA Division II national tournament.
Agard coached at University High School for one year before moving back to the mainland where he worked in sales for Hoffman La Roche Pharmaceuticals.
"They had a plan where you could retire at age 50. My wife Carolyn and I really liked Vermont, so we moved here where we own and manage vacation rental properties," Agard said.
"I got back into coaching because I still had a passion for the game. Coaching was a good way to segway back into basketball. I enjoy coaching and love playing tennis."
Moanalua graduate Fukushima honored
Ric Fukushima has received the John Zinda Award which goes to the student-athlete in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference that best epitomizes athletic performance, sportsmanship, and academic excellence.
A senior wide receiver for the Occidental College Tigers, Fukushima will leave Occidental with a degree in physics and a 3.45 grade-point average. He has been an All-SCIAC All-Academic pick the past three years.
The Moanalua grad was a second-team All-Conference pick as a junior and a first-team selection last fall.
A captain his senior year, Fukushima was named to the Tiger's Platinum Lifting Squad in 2005, and won the King Tiger Award for offseason excellence between his junior and senior year.
Teammate Derek Turbin (Punahou '02), a senior defensive back who is majoring in American Studies, also was named to the All-SCIAC All-Academic team. His GPA is 3.25. At the SCIAC track and field championships April 25, Turbin finished third in the triple jump (45 feet, 2 1/4 inches), his best jump of the season, 10th in the long jump (20-6) and was on the 400-meter relay team that came in fourth.
Thomas a big splash at Hartwick College
Vonya Thomas, a junior, is a member of the Hartwick (Oneonta, N.Y.) College women's water polo team that will participate in the NCAA Championships next weekend at UC Davis.
Playing the center position, the Iolani graduate has scored 17 goals and has 10 assists for the 27-9 Hawks who won the Collegiate Water Polo Association's Eastern Division title with an 11-8 victory over Michigan.
The Hawks reserve goalkeeper is freshman Elizabeth Alonzo (Hilo '05). She has appeared in 11 matches, made 39 saves and surrendered 18 goals.
Hartwick plays UCLA in the first round. The Bruins have one player from Hawaii, Kamaile Crowell, a sophomore driver who scored three goals in 18 matches this year.
Bianca Simonetti (Mid Pacific) is a redshirt junior driver for Southern California, the top seed in the tournament.