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The Honolulu Advertiser
Three from Hawai'i are scholar athletes | The Honolulu Advertiser | Hawaii's Newspaper
Posted on: Wednesday, July 5, 2006

HOMEGROWN REPORT
 Three from Hawai'i are scholar athletes

By Leila Wai
Advertiser Staff Writer

Kasey Ko
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Mariko Strickland
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SEND US PHOTOS

If you know of any athletes deserving of recognition, give us their names, high schools and graduation years, colleges and sports. Photos are also welcome. E-mail us at: homegrown@honoluluadvertiser.com or contact Leila Wai at 535-2457.

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Lacey Lavarias
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Three student-athletes from Hawai'i were named Mountain West Conference Scholar Athletes for the 2005-06 school year:

  • Brigham Young freshman baseball player Kasey Ko (Punahou '05) earned a 3.87 GPA in pre-athletic training.

  • San Diego State freshman soccer player Mariko Strickland (Mid-Pacific '05 of Anahola, Kaua'i) earned a 3.93 GPA in kinesiology.

  • Utah freshman volleyball player Lacey Lavarias (Iolani '04) earned a 3.91 GPA in parks, recreation and tourism.

    MORE MWC HONORS

  • Led by Ko, four student-athletes from Hawai'i were named to the Mountain West Conference Spring All-Academic team.

    New Mexico redshirt freshman baseball player Chad Itokazu (Pearl City '03) earned a 3.03 GPA in accounting.

    San Diego State senior track runner Christal Cuadra (Maryknoll '02 of Honolulu) earned a 3.14 GPA in economics.

    Utah sophomore softball player Sharee Fonoti (Kamehameha '04) earned a 3.39 GPA in sports management.

    MORE ACADEMICS

  • Four Hawai'i athletes at Creighton University (Omaha, Neb.) received Missouri Valley Conference academic honors.

    Sophomore cross country runner Kari Tanimoto (Pearl City '04 of Waipahu) earned Commissioner's Academic Excellence Award and was named to the MVC honor roll.

    The Commissioner's Academic Award requires a minimum grade point average of 3.5 for the previous two semesters. Student-athletes must have a minimum of 3.2 GPA for honor roll status.

    Freshman softball player Lau Emmsley-Chang (Kamehameha of Honolulu), sophomore baseball player Michael Lam (Punahou '04) and sophomore tennis player Jodi Yanagida (Punahou of 'Ewa Beach) were named to the honor roll.

    WOMEN'S TENNIS

  • Wellesley (Mass.) sophomore Jenna Mezin (Seabury Hall '04) was named the Northeast Intercollegiate Tennis Association Player to Watch and the National ITA Player to Watch at the NCAA Division III Tennis Championships banquet in May.

    She was also named Wellesley College's Most Outstanding Class Athlete for the class of 2008.

    COMMITMENTS

  • Running back Micah Strickland, a 2005 Kahuku graduate, signed a financial aid agreement and is enrolled at Oregon State University, the school announced.

    Strickland originally signed with San Diego State in 2005, but did not enroll there.

  • Two former Taft College (Calif.) athletes from Hawai'i will transfer to Division I schools.

    Kaena Apana (Nanakuli) will play volleyball for East Tennessee State and softball player Pikake Nutter-Gaudet (Leilehua) will play for Cal State Bakersfield, according to a release from Taft College.

    Reach Leila Wai at lwai@honoluluadvertiser.com.
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