UH Circle A track star. A record-setting swimmer. A Pro Bowl kicker.
of Honor
to grow by 3
Uyeda, Childs and Elam will be
inducted tomorrow nightBy Cindy Luis
cluis@starbulletin.comThe University of Hawaii's Sports Circle of Honor expanded today to include three more of its athletic best. The members of the Class of 2002 are: George Toshio Uyeda, who set AAU records in the long jump and triple jump; Jeanne Childs, the American record holder in the 200-meter breaststroke; and Jason Elam, who holds most of the Denver Broncos' kicking records after 10 seasons with the NFL team.
The three were to be honored at today's luncheon at sponsor Bank of Hawaii's executive dining room. The 21st COH class will officially be inducted during a ceremony tomorrow night prior to the Rainbow basketball game against San Jose State at the Stan Sheriff Center.
Their induction brings the number of individuals honored to 60. There have also been five teams inducted; all plaques are displayed on the inner concourse of the Sheriff Center.
The latest selections:
>> George Toshio Uyeda: Listed at 5-foot-4 and 120 pounds, the 1942 McKinley High graduate was called "the greatest I've seen since Jesse Owens and Eulace Peacock" by national track observer George Tharp.
His resume includes four broad jump (now called the long jump) records set at the Cornell Relays, the Rainbow Relays, the AAU national meet and the AAU national high school meet; and the AAU triple jump (then called the hop-skip-and-jump).
After three years serving in the Military Intelligence Service in Japan during World War II, Uyeda returned to UH. In 1947, he jumped 25-34 in the Hawaiian AAU meet, the second-best jump in the country and third-best in the world that year.
Uyeda's Hawaii high school long jump mark of 22-7 1/2, set in 1941, stood until Jeris White broke it in 1970 (22-9 1/2).
>> Jeanne Childs: The Denver native came to UH with an impressive resume, which included All-America honors in high school and at the University of Texas. Childs also earned All-America honors at the final AIAW championships in 1982, winning the 100- and 200-yard breaststroke, setting two AIAW and four UH marks.
In Childs' senior year, the NCAA took over running women's collegiate sports, but it didn't change anything for Childs. She again won the 100- and 200-yard breaststroke en route to All-American honors at the NCAA nationals in March 1983. She won the same two events at the U.S.S.I. nationals a month later.
Childs broke the U.S. record in the 200-meter breaststroke at the 1982 U.S. world team trials.
>> Jason Elam: His senior year, Elam was named to the Associated Press and Kodak All-America teams. He was also the Western Athletic Conference's Special Teams Player of the Year for 1992 and received the Stan Bates Award as the WAC's top scholar-athlete.
Elam is the Warriors' all-time scoring leader (395 points), kicked the longest field goal (56 yards vs. BYU in 1992) and is the career punt leader (43.51-yard average).
Last week, Elam signed a five-year agreement with Denver, the team that picked him in the third round of the 1993 NFL Draft.
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