Hauula’s Jocelyn Alo won the ESPY award for Best College Athlete, Women’s Sports on Tuesday.
The Oklahoma softball standout and Campbell graduate was named the winner on the ESPYS Preview Show on ESPN. She won the award over South Carolina basketball player Aliyah Boston, Florida State soccer player Jaelin Howell and Boston College lacrosse player Charlotte North.
Alo closed her college career as a two-time USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year after helping the Sooners capture back-to-back national championships. She was named a first-team NFCA All-American for the third time.
She broke the NCAA career home run record in win over Hawaii at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium on March 11 and finished her career with 122, 27 more than the previous record.
She hit 34 homers this season and drove in 85 runs while hitting a career-high .515.
Alo was also named the Women’s College World Series Most Outstanding Player, and the Honda Sport Award winner for softball.
She is also nominated for another ESPY for Best Record-Breaking Performance and the Sooners are up for Best Team. The ESPYS will be televised today at 7 p.m. on KITV.
Kamehameha to play in Polynesian Classic
Kamehameha is one of six teams that will participate in the Polynesian Football Classic in Las Vegas in September.
The Warriors will play Liberty High in Henderson, Nev., on Sept. 16 in the final game of the classic.
“Our players can’t wait to play in Vegas,” Kamehameha coach Abu Ma’afala said in a press release. “We are thrilled to travel to the mainland and showcase our talent in such a high-profile event like the Polynesian Football Classic.”
The Warriors went 3-3 in last year’s pandemic-shortened season, which included two wins over Saint Louis to snap an 11-game losing streak against the Crusaders.
Kamehameha returns last year’s starting quarterback, Kealii Ah Yat, who threw for 949 yards and 10 touchdowns as a junior.
Liberty went 10-2 last season after beating Bishop Gorman to win the Nevada 4A state title in 2019.
Wahine earn All-Academic Honors
Twelve University of Hawaii water polo athletes earned Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches Spring 2022 Women’s All-Adacemic Awards, released Tuesday morning.
The Rainbow Wahine finished the 2022 season with a cumulative 3.10 team GPA. At the top of the list were Emma van Rossum and Annabelle Ackert, who earned outstanding marks (4.0-3.71). Lucia Gomez de la Puente, Libby Gault, Jordan Wedderburn, Elyse Lemay-Lavoie, Olivia Kistler, Lot Stertefeld and Camille Radosavljevic earned superior marks (3.70-3.41). Molly DiLalla, Bridget Layburn, and Ann Inoue achieved excellent status (3.40-3.20) to round out the group.
The ‘Bows finished the 2022 season as the Big West Conference regular season champion, the fifth time in school history. UH also finished as the runner-up in the conference postseason tournament.
Hawaii schools earn All-Academic Honors
The Chaminade and Hawaii Hilo men’s basketball programs have been recognized by the National Basketball Coaches Association for academic excellence.
Both teams earned NABC Team Academic Excellence Awards, given to teams that finish the academic calendar year with cumulative GPAs of 3.0 or higher.
A number of athletes from Hawaii schools were also named to the NABC Honors Court after finishing the term with GPAs of 3.2 or higher.
Hawaii had three honorees in Jerome Desrosiers, Mate Colina, and Zoar Nedd. Hawaii Hilo had a pair of honorees, with Anthony Haskett and Steven Hubbell being named. Chaminade had eight honorees, including former Rainbow Warrior Jessiya Villa, along with Isaac Amaral-Artharee, Joseph Smoyer, Kevin Kremer, Kobe Young, Paris Taylor, Sawyer Storms, and Zach McIntire.
