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The Way I See It
THIS is getting to be a trend. A beautiful one. For the second time this year, a young woman I covered as a prep athlete has won a beauty pageant. Miss Oregon ran
track at KaiserFirst it was former Moanalua High School starting basketball guard Angie Baraquio winning the Miss America title.
Now, it's 21-year-old former Kaiser High School 400-meter star Endia Abrante.
Abrante, who was one of the nation's top female prep sprinters a few years ago, was crowned Miss Oregon USA.
The next step for Abrante, on scholarship with the University of Oregon track and field team, is the nationally televised Miss USA Pageant in Gary, Ind., in February.
And guess who convinced her to enter the state pageant on short notice. It was a good friend of hers from the track world named Maurice Greene.
Greene, the 100-meter world record holder and Olympic gold medalist, also paid her $700 entry fee.
Abrante said she met Greene at the 1999 Mt. SAC Relays and the two hit it off pretty well. She said they speak on the phone often and go out together from time to time.
Abrante said she's proudest of her pageant platform which represents the National Alliance of Breast Cancer Organizations and the Ovarian Cancer Research Chapter.
Abrante, who was sixth in the Pac-10 400 meters last season, has a double major in journalism and psychology.
Cool coach: June Jones enjoyed a Teflon stewardship of the University of Hawaii football program this season. Despite only three wins, he remains the toast of the town. One thing that helped was his perpetual poise under pressure. He never lost it, never looked embattled.
The other thing that obviously helped preserve Jones' image were his promising young recruits who debuted as "gems in the rough" this season.
These include quarterback Tim Chang, who's got an arm but needs to mature and find some wheels, and linebacker Pisa Tinoisamoa, who needs to stay just as hungry in 2001.
Center of attention: It's looking like the man the University of Hawaii men's basketball team planned to start at center this season may not see playing time until the new year -- if at all.
"The Warriors haven't formally presented their case to the NCAA, putting off a decision until likely the second semester," writes Andy Katz of ESPN.com.
Seems like this eligibility question should've been resolved before 6-foot-10 Haim Shimonovic got here -- before assistant coach Scott Rigot went to Israel and sought a commitment from a young man coming off the bench for Maccabi Rishon Le Zion in the country's premier pro league. Shimonovic faxed his signature without even seeing the Manoa campus.
It was the last thing the 1-2 Rainbows needed after discovering they hadn't found an immediate solution to their point guard vacancy through recruiting.
Bad time to be heading for UCLA or anywhere.
Meanwhile, Louisville's 6-foot-11 Muhammad Lasege, who was declared ineligible because he signed a Russian pro pact (but took no cash), is seeking a temporary injunction that would allow him to play.
Shimonovic told me by phone last spring that because he was in the Israeli army, he took no money for playing. He said he competed with and against former NBA players.
Wallace hasn't revealed what precisely is at issue with Shimonovic. The secrecy increases speculation.
Pat Bigold has covered sports for daily newspapers
in Hawaii and Massachusetts since 1978.
Email Pat: pbigold@starbulletin.com
