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Just For Kicks Al Chase |
Iolani girls wrap
up college careerShari Nishikawa and Jamie Shoma were teammates at Iolani and continued that distinction for four more years with the Loyola Marymount Lions.
"Shari and Jamie were fantastic players for us all four years here at LMU," Lions coach Gregg Murphy said. "Jaime played as an outside back and started for two of her four years. Jamie is an awesome kid with a great personality and attitude. ... We will miss her.
"Shari was first-team All-West Coast Conference as a freshman and as a junior and was second-team this year as a senior. She was our leading goal scorer this year as well as a team captain ... we will obviously miss Shari as well!"
Nishikawa's 10 career assists and 28 career points ties her for seventh place on the all-time LMU list. She scored nine goals in her career.
Nishikawa was a starter in all but two of the Lions' 76 matches during her career. She led the team in points (12) and goals (5) in 2003. Three of those goals were game-winners. In 2000 her teammates voted her rookie of the year. This year she was voted offensive player of the year.
Shoma saw action in 46 matches. Her defense helped LMU reach national rankings in team shutouts and goals-against average during her four years. She earned her first career assist as a freshman in a 3-2 win over Arizona.
Momi Markus was set to finally enjoy a banner season at Northern Colorado when she tore her left ACL the first day of practice. A 1999 redshirt with a torn ACL, she tore the graft in the right ACL and damaged the knee again early in the 2001 campaign that limited her to eight matches in 2002.
The Iolani grad was the scoring star during spring practice this year and coach Tim Barrera was expecting a lot from Markus in the team's transition year to Division I.
"Momi had the strength and touch to play in really tight spaces against bigger and stronger defenders," Barrera said. "She would have given us a legitimate target player to play balls into and let her hold it as we moved forward.
"She was poised to have a very productive year and take on a leadership role, which made it even tougher when she went down that first day, leaving a big hole in our front line.
"Momi has been one of the most-liked players on our team through her years here. It has certainly been difficult at times with all the injuries. She has been able to get out and help in the community, serving as the junior varsity coach/assistant coach for Greeley West High School last spring. In May, West won the 4A state championship, the first ever for a girls team at Greeley West.
"Although her career was not what it could have been here, Momi has definitely left her mark and we will miss her."
Duke honored
Duke Hashimoto has been named to the Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete Team. The sophomore midfielder/striker for Southern Methodist has a 3.58 grade point average with a major in pre-political science.
Coaching news
Damon Gore resigned as Tulsa's head women's soccer coach. In his five seasons the Golden Hurricane had a 42-45-8 record, 16-19-2 in Western Athletic Conference play. Tulsa was only 1-4 against Hawaii, being outscored 5-17. Rena Richardson has been hired to take Gore's place.
See the Columnists section for some past articles. Just for Kicks runs every other Sunday in the Star-Bulletin.
Al Chase can be reached at achase@starbulletin.com