Hawaii Beat
Five-time defending champion Punahou is seeded first in this week's Nissan Boys' State Volleyball Tournament. Punahou top seed in
state boys’ volleyballThe undefeated Buffanblu (14-0) are in Pool A, along with Waiakea (14-3) and Leilehua (11-2). In Pool B is No. 2 seed Pearl City ((12-1), the OIA champion, along with Molokai (12-3) and Konawaena (13-4).
Pool C is comprised of third-seeded Hilo (13-1), Kamehameha (12-3) and Roosevelt (10-1). In Pool D are No. 4 seed Seabury Hall (14-0), Kauai (7-1) and Kalaheo (9-2).
The 12-team event will be held in Hilo at Waiakea High and Afook-Chinen Civic on Thursday. The finals are set for Saturday night at 7:30 at Waiakea.
There was a stunned moment of disbelief followed by much elation when Beatrice Nishida of Waialae received word that her 8-2 entry was selected as this week's Football Fever winner. Nishida, by any name, a winner
There was a good chance that her picture might eventually show up here anyway as she and her husband turn in multiple entries per week, hers identified as Mrs. John Nishida and his with the name Beatrice Nishida.
"We've been doing it that way because my husband didn't want to have his picture in the paper in case he won," she said.
She went on to confirm that this winning entry was submitted by her with a little consultation from her husband.
"I know some of the teams and I usually go with them if they're doing good, but my husband does help me sometimes, especially with the pros, because I think they're harder to choose."
She was still a bit overcome by the news of her winning and couldn't think of anything specific she would do with her $500 prize.
She also won two tickets to the Hula Bowl, to be played Jan. 22 on Maui.
"It hasn't sunk in yet, but I'm sure I'll find something good to do with it."
St. Louis falls to 40th in poll, Kamehameha ranked 38th
St. Louis' first loss in three seasons led to the Crusaders plummeting in the Fox Sports Net Fab 50 football rankings yesterday.St. Louis (11-1) fell from No. 3 to No. 40 among the 50 teams ranked nationally. The Crusaders' 26-game winning streak was snapped Saturday night by Kamehameha, 30-6.
The victory put the Warriors (11-1) in the No. 38 spot in the national rankings. It also set up an ILH championship playoff game between St. Louis and Kamehameha at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Aloha Stadium. The winner gets the lone ILH spot in next week's first state football championship tournament.
In the Fox West regional rankings, Kamehameha was No. 6 while St. Louis slipped from first to seventh.
Damien's Andres resigns
Mel Andres has resigned as head football coach at Damien High School, it was announced yesterday by Damien principal Br. W. Gregory O'Donnell and athletic director Herb Lloyd.Andres was the Monarchs' head coach for four seasons, compiling a 6-34 ILH record. He told his players he was stepping down after practice last Friday and coached his last game Saturday against Punahou.
Lloyd will head the search for a successor.
Bown honored again
Hawaii senior blocker Heather Bown was named the WAC Player of the Week in volleyball for the second consecutive week .Bown set a WAC record for hitting percentage in last Friday's victory over Tulsa. She had 16 kills with no errors in 18 attempts to hit .889.
Bown leads the the country in blocks (2.32) and is second in the WAC in hitting percentage (.378).
Windsurfing finalists
Josh Angulo of Maui and Francisco Goya of Argentina upset windsurfing legend Robby Naish and world wave champ Jason Polakow yesterday to gain the last two berths in the four-man final of the 16th annual Swatch Aloha Classic at Ho'okipa Beach Park, Maui.Angulo, a wildcard qualifier, and Goya joined 11-time world champion Bjorn Dunkerbeck of the Canary Islands and Nik Baker of Britain in today's final.
The women's finalists were Americans Cecily Kitts and Kelly Moore, Iballa Ruano Moreno of Spain and Tsugumi Takagi of Japan.