Newsmaker
Monday, April 5, 1999
Name: Petty Officer Pamela Larry
Age: 31
Education: Pursuing Chaminade University bachelor's degree
Position: Navy signalman
Hobbies: Reading
"I wanted to run and I am doing that. I wanted to go to college and I'm doing that. It proves if you fight for yourself and don't give up, you can get anywhere," says Petty Officer Pamela Larry. Leader of the pack
Larry on Feb. 26 was honored as the 1998 Navy Female Athlete of the Year at the annual United States Military Sports Association "Athlete of the Year" banquet at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.
Currently assigned to the Barbers Point Naval Air Station's administrative department, Larry has competed in the 1998 Armed Forces Track and Field Championship as a member of the All Navy Track and Field Team, and in state meets in Hawaii.
She dominated the 1998 track season with 18 first-place finishes in the 100-, 200- and 400-meter events.
Larry ran track in high school, but it wasn't until 12 years later that she decided to don her spikes again, after a shipmate asked her to join a relay team for the 1997 Aloha State Games.
Scheduling conflicts didn't allow her to train or compete until the following year, when she entered the Armed Forces track meet.
Today, she is the state of Hawaii master's record holder in the 100-, 200- and 400-meter dashes. As a member of the All Navy Track and Field Team, Larry represented the team in four events, contributing to the team's second-place finish.
She competed in the Hawaii State Amateur Olympics, where she tied meet records in the 100- and 200-meter dashes, broke the record in the 400-meter race and anchored the record-breaking 1,600-meter relays.
She also was first female to qualify for Hawaii's Fastest Human 100-meter race.
In addition to her Navy job and her track competition, Larry is coaching her daughters -- Lindsey, 12 and Vanessa, 6 -- and her nephew, Troy, 8, whom she is raising.
Larry hopes to receive her bachelor's degree in psychology in December from Chaminade University, where she is on the dean's list, and then go on to law school.
Gregg K. Kakesako, Star-Bulletin
