Tracey Teruya

Gymnastics champ Tracey Teruya
had her eye on a career
in physical therapy

By Rod Ohira
Star-Bulletin

Tracey Teruya was pursuing a master's degree in physical therapy with the same dedication that made her a champion gymnast.

"She was too young, too loved for this to happen," said Lisa Meggison Medeiros. Teruya was killed Monday night when a fire engine broadsided her car at Wilder Avenue and Kewalo Street in Makiki.

"Her life was going full speed ahead. She was the youngest of our (Leeward Gymnastics) bunch, always so bright and bubbly with that beautiful smile."

Teruya, 27, the youngest of Dr. Thomas and Margie Teruya's three children, planned to return to Samuel Merritt College in Oakland early next month after she completed a two-month internship at Queen's Medical Center.

"The family is taking it very hard," said Tish Uyehara, Teruya's cousin. "It's hard to comprehend something so sudden and tragic. "Tracey was an upbeat person, very vibrant, and happy all the time. This is really a shock to everybody."

Teruya was returning to her Makiki Heights home from grocery shopping when her car was hit by the fire truck responding to a Makiki Street cardiac arrest call. An ambulance continued to the medical call and took the victim to Straub Hospital. The victim's condition was not available.

The Punahou graduate won the Interscholastic League of Honolulu's all-around gymnastic championship in 1988 as a senior.

She went on to compete for the University of California at Santa Barbara, where she earned her undergraduate degree.

"Gymnastics is a year-around sport that demands a lot of dedication," said Wayne Medeiros, Lisa's husband, who assisted his brother, Carl, in coaching Teruya while she competed for Leeward Gymnastics.

"But Tracey not only was a hard worker with a gung-ho attitude, she also got good grades in school."

At age 10, Teruya became the first gymnast from Leeward Gymnastics to qualify for nationals, said Lisa Medeiros.

"She was a star, naturally talented, with very supportive parents," Lisa Medeiros said last night after attending the funeral of her father, Harold Sakai. "It's a very sad time."

Paula Crabb, Teruya's gymnastics coach at Punahou, was also dealing with a recent tragedy when she learned about Tracey's death yesterday.

"She's the one with the biggest smile in the team picture," said Crabb, whose husband had close ties to the George Mason University volleyball team coach Uvaldo Acosta, who drowned two weeks ago at North Beach.

Teruya was a popular gymnastics instructor at Punahou's Summer Sports Program from 1989-94.

"She was a favorite there," said Lisa Medeiros, who worked with Teruya in the summer program. "She was excellent with the kids, and they would run up and hug her all the time."

Tom Holden, director of Punahou's summer program, recalls that Teruya was always willing to spend extra time with her students. "It was more than a job to her," he said.

Holden also worked with the 37-year-old driver of the fire engine that struck Teruya's car, Richard Spelman. Spelman, a former University of Hawaii football kicking specialist, and Holden coached together at Punahou from 1990-92.

"It's a tough, tough time right now and my heart goes out to both families," Holden said.