Carvalho humbled by Rimington award

Brennen Carvalho (Kamehameha '04) is proof that success can be achieved at all levels of collegiate football.

The 6-foot-1 310-pounder wrapped up his Portland State career in December and was named the Rimington Award winner as the nation's top center in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision on Tuesday.

Carvalho started 39 games and was a two-time FCS first team All-American. He ended his career with an appearance in the Hula Bowl in February.

"It's an honor to have it coming from where I'm from," Carvalho said. "It lets people from Hawaii know that they can play football at a small level and still be successful."

Carvalho is busy training in Arizona with former UH football players Karl Noa and CJ Hawthorne and Kahuku alumnus JT Mapu in hopes of getting selected in the upcoming NFL Draft.

Carvalho had his pro day last week and is hoping to participate in Hawaii's later this month.

He plans on returning to Hawaii the week of the draft to watch it with family and friends.

"I'll be watching to see if I get called," he said.

BASEBALL

» Michael Lam (Punahou '04) hit a two-run inside-the-park home run to secure Creighton's eighth straight victory with an 8-5 win over Northern Colorado. Lam has started 11 games this year and is hitting .326 with 14 runs and 10 RBIs.

» Brigham Young junior Kasey Ko (Punahou '05) went 3-for-6 with two RBIs and two walks as the Cougars completed a two-game sweep of Kansas State on Wednesday. Ko has started every game for BYU this season and is second on the team with a .339 batting average. His .484 on-base percentage is tops on the team and he's tied for third with 12 RBIs.

» Central Arizona College sophomore C.J. Johnson (Iolani '06) went 5-for-7 with a double, home run and three RBIs in a doubleheader sweep of Cochise College. Johnson, who will transfer to Hawaii next season, leads the team in home runs and is batting .415 this year with 26 runs, 21 RBIs and 13 extra-base hits in 32 games.

» Southern Utah junior Keli'i Zablan (Saint Louis '05) had two hits and scored the Thunderbirds' only run in a 3-1 loss to Portland. Two days earlier, they got two doubles and three RBIs from Bucky Aona (Punahou '06) in a 5-3 win over San Diego State. Zablan added two more hits against the Aztecs and Nick Freitas (Kamehameha '05) went 1-for-3 with two stolen bases.

SOFTBALL

» Emi Willing (Kamehameha '04) blasted a solo home run to lead Brigham Young to a 6-1 win over Princeton yesterday in the first game of the Stanford Softball Invitational. Willing went 3-for-3 with two doubles and two runs scored in a 15-4 win over Utah State on Tuesday.

» Santa Clara junior Noelani Hoopii (Kamehameha '05) was 2-for-4 with a run and an RBI as the Broncos gave No. 1 Arizona State a run before losing the first of a doubleheader 13-8. They were no-hit in the second game and lost 11-0 in five innings.

MEN'S TENNIS

» San Francisco sophomore Torin Ching (Iolani '05) helped his doubles team win in the No. 3 flight 9-7 to lead the Dons to a 5-2 victory over UNLV.

» Claremont-Mudd-Scripps sophomore Mikey Lim (Punahou '06) won all three doubles matches and went 1-2 in singles competition to lead the Stags to a third-place finish in the Stag-Hen Invitational. Sophomore Myles Crandall (Seabury Hall '06) won his only doubles match.

WOMEN'S TENNIS

» Pacific (Ore.) freshman Stephanie Velligas (Kamehameha '07) was part of a doubles team that earned the Boxers' only point of the match in an 8-1 loss to the College of Idaho. Velligas and her partner won 8-5 in the No. 3 flight position and are 3-5 this season.

» Creighton senior Jodi Yanagida (Punahou '04) and freshman Rachelle Shoji (Hawaii Baptist '07) teamed up to win their doubles match and help the Blue Jays defeat Missouri-Kansas City 6-1. Yanagida also won her singles match in the No. 6 position 6-0, 6-3.

» Redlands junior Kaleena Wakamatsu (Baldwin '05) won both her singles and doubles matches to help the Bulldogs beat Trinity University 6-3. Freshman Sara Yoshinaga (Iolani '07) helped her team win a doubles match in the No. 2 position while sophomore Paige Sumida (Waiakea '06) lost in both singles and doubles competition. Sumida competed in the top flight for doubles and the No. 2 flight for singles.