Hawaii Beat
OUT THERE
Swimmers of all skill levels prepared for the Kailua Popoia Swim contest Sunday. Kalen Darling finished first.
WAC softball honors 5 Rainbow Wahine
Junior outfielder Tracie Uchima was one of five Hawaii softball players selected to the all-Western Athletic Conference teams announced yesterday.Uchima was the only Rainbow Wahine named to the first team. The 5-foot-5 junior was UH's top hitter in the conference, batting .322 in WAC games and .276 for the season. Uchima was one of Hawaii's most stable performers throughout the season.
Catcher Denise Dahlberg (.276, .316 in WAC games, nine home runs), earned her second straight all-WAC second-team selection. It was the third all-conference honor for the junior.
Noelle Izumi (.276, 10 stolen bases), April Crowell (.272, four home runs) and freshman Tyleen Tausaga (.272, four home runs) were also selected to the second team.
"It's a gift that so many people voted for our players because our players were up and down," Hawaii coach Bob Coolen said. "The only one that deserved first-team all-WAC was Tracie Uchima.
"She was more than consistent in the field and at the plate with her play. For her it's a nice award. She was our leading hitter in the WAC. We had three kids hitting .276 and they were the kids that had impact on winning ballgames for us."
All but Crowell return next season for the Rainbow Wahine.
Tulsa led the all-WAC selections with six players while Hawaii and Fresno State each placed five. The Bulldogs swept the top honors with sophomore Jamie Clark, last year's WAC Freshman of the Year, named the Player of the Year. Ace Jamie Southern was the conference's top pitcher and freshman catcher Nichole Willis is the WAC Freshman of the Year.
FSU's Mitzi Ing, a senior outfielder from Iolani, was also named to the second team.
Tulsa's Jamie Pinkerton was voted the Coach of the Year after guiding the Golden Hurricane to a 45-18 record and second place in the conference.
MPSF won't penalize Theocharidis, UH
The NCAA may stand for "No Costas At All" but last week's decision by the body governing collegiate sports will not affect Hawaii's record in 2002 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation men's volleyball nor the career records of four-time All-American Costas Theocharidis."They (the MPSF) pretty much told us when the whole issue came up that they weren't going to do anything," said Warrior coach Mike Wilton.
Last Tuesday, the NCAA denied UH's appeal to retain its 2002 national championship, won during Theocharidis' junior year. At issue was Theocharidis' participation on a pro team in his native Greece, although he has said he was not paid, did not have an agent nor sign a pro contract.
The Warriors finished the 2002 MPSF season with a 17-5 record and earned the at-large berth into the NCAA Championship. Hawaii defeated Pepperdine in the final, with Theocharidis being named the MVP of the tournament. (That is the only personal award that will be affected since the NCAA runs the championship tournament).
Theocharidis was the MPSF Player of the Year in 2001 and 2003, and a four-time all-MPSF selection. Theocharidis holds three single-season UH records and is the school career leader in kills (2,198), kill attempts (4,510) and aces (121).
Wade applying for Cougars coaching job
Hawaii volleyball coach Charlie Wade said yesterday that he has applied for the vacant head coaching position at Washington State University. Former Cougars' head coach Cindy Fredrick resigned two weeks ago to become the head coach at the University of Iowa.Few jobs would be tempting enough to lure Wade, the top UH assistant the past eight seasons, from Hawaii, but an opening at a Pacific-10 school can be pretty appealing.
"My wife went to the University of Washington so that is one of the places in the country that she is geographically comfortable with," Wade said. "A head coaching position in the Pac-10 is hard to pass up. I sent my stuff up. Hopefully I'm a candidate they're at least interested in talking to. When opportunities like that come along, you have to at least entertain the idea."
Wade said he was impressed with WSU after the Rainbow Wahine competed in the first and second rounds of the 2001 NCAA tournament in Pullman. Hawaii defeated WSU and Eastern Washington before falling to UCLA in the regional at Long Beach.
"When we were there in 2001, it was very apparent that women's volleyball is important," the UH associate head coach said. "Beautiful facilities for women's volleyball and volleyball was a big deal. They draw crowds. Top-notch facilities and the whole professionalism from stat crews to administrators, it was really obvious that women's volleyball is important up there."
Wade has not heard anything from WSU but he expects the position to be filled soon. The collegiate recruiting season kicks into high gear next month with the Junior Olympics and the Volleyball Festival.
Vulcans drop a wild one at Northern Colorado
GREELEY, Colo. >> It is rare that an 18-hit performance wouldn't be enough for a win, but that was the case in the Hawaii-Hilo baseball team's 27-16 loss to Northern Colorado yesterday.In a long game (3:42) that featured 43 runs, 39 hits, and four ejections, the Vulcans (9-39) were on the short end of the slugfest. UHH assistant coach Joseph Glaser, pitcher John Matson, shortstop Jonathan Cabral and Bears' assistant coach Chris Forbes were all tossed from the game in the sixth and seventh innings.
Sean Tamura went 4-for-6 with an RBI and Johnny Dudoit (2-for-5) lead UHH with five RBIs, but the Vulcans blew an 11-7 lead in the sixth inning. The Bears erupted for nine runs in the bottom of the inning before adding 11 more in the seventh. Bears' pitcher Adam Inaba (2-0), a transfer from UHH, was credited with the win after allowing four hits in 1 1/3 innings. Marc Caviglia (0-2) took the loss for Hilo.
McLachlin qualifies for U.S. Open sectional
Punahou product Parker McLachlin fired a 68 yesterday in Illinois to earn a spot in the U.S. Open Sectional Qualifying at Turtle Bay on June 7.McLachlin finished third out of 75 golfers who competed for five spots. There are 13 sectional qualifying sites where 750 golfers will compete for non-exempt spots.
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