Hawaii Grown: Keeping up with isle athletes at mainland colleges

Ethan Thomas (Mililani), Northern Kentucky: Banged out three hits with a walk and scored three runs in a 15-9 loss to Milwaukee, driving in two runs. It was his second time in two weeks with three or more hits. He has raised his batting average from .221 on April 7 to his current .286. Wailele Kane-Yates (Kauai) had six hits in the series sweep to raise his batting average to .313.

Ryson Ujimori (Aiea), UC San Diego: Drove in his first run of the season in a 16-15 win over Cal Poly, singling to center in the second inning. He had two hits in a game for the second time. He hadn’t driven in a run in more than two years.

BEACH VOLLEYBALL

Indigo Clarke (Punahou), Stanford: Helped the Cardinal match a program record with their 19th victory of the season, teaming with Clara Stowell to top Pepperdine’s No. 3 pair 21-16, 21-15 and improve to 26-7 this year and 31-7 in her career. Her sister, Phoenix Clarke (Punahou), was honored on senior day and went 2-0 in exhibition matches to improve to 8-1 to wrap up her career.

Ella Connor (Seabury Hall), Cal Poly: Won four more matches with Erin Inskeep to prepare for this week’s Big West Championships, sweeping San Jose State, Stanford and Pepperdine before needing three sets to top California. The duo is 29-5 this season. The senior is a semifinalist for the AVCA Player of the Year, but her partner isn’t.

Kelia Giusta (Moanalua), Concordia Irvine: Played a pivotal role in getting the Golden Eagles their first AVCA Small College National Championship after losing in the title match the previous two years, teaming with Ashley Rossi to win 21-13, 21-13 over Texas A&M Kingsville in the final. They won 21-9, 21-11 over Saint Leo in the semifinals and went a perfect 4-0 in pool play.

WOMEN’S GOLF

Mia Cepeda (Kahuku), Albany: Was the only unanimous selection on the Metro Atlantic Conference’s first team as she prepares for the conference championship in Orlando, Fla., beginning today. She was 11th in the tournament last year as a freshman.

SOFTBALL

Cairah Curran (Campbell), Santa Clara: Cleared the bases with a double for three RBIs in an 8-5 loss to Pacific, the first time since the season opener the leadoff hitter drove in three runs in a game. She is five runs scored and five stolen bases from tying the school’s career records.

Lakaiya-Braessia Kahahawai-Kekona (Baldwin), Utah Tech: Had five hits in a three-game sweep at the hands of Texas-Arlington as she chases a .400 batting average. She went into the series at .376 and left it with a .393 mark and is hitting .341 in her 186-game career.

Colby McClinton (Kamehameha), Cal State Fullerton: Scored six runs in a three-game sweep of Cal State Bakersfield despite only three hits while playing error-less ball. She has scored a run in 10 straight games but had a 12-game hitting streak snapped in the opener.

Sherreigh Nakoa-Chung (Maryknoll), Portland State: Won her third straight game in a 4-3 victory over Northern Colorado, allowing just two earned runs in seven innings and retiring her last seven batters in the close contest. She was the Big Sky Pitcher of the Week for the second time this season and third time in her career. She leads the conference in strikeouts (95) and complete games (13).

Sianni Sakai (Waimea), Utah: Banged out three hits in a game for the first time in her career in a 7-0 win over Montana, including a double for her first extra-base hit since February. She raised her season batting average to .239 from .186.

MEN’S TENNIS

Andre Ajed (Mid-Pacific), Binghamton: Nearly willed his team to a Northeast Conference championship, finding himself on the court with his team down 3-2 and only one other match on the court next to him. He dropped the first set 7-5 but stormed back for a 6-1 win and was tied 4-4 when his teammate lost to end the competition. The junior won the only match he finished, 6-1, 7-6 in the semifinals.

Joshua Delacruz (Moanalua), Pacific: Was named first-team All-Northwest Conference in singles after going 5-8 in the No. 1 spot for the Boxers. Dawson Hose (Punahou) was selected second team in doubles and Alexander Kinoshita (Punahou) was picked third team in doubles.

WOMEN’S TENNIS

Chloe Takahashi (Waiakea), Pacific: Earned first-team singles honors from the Northwest Conference, going 4-9 in the No. 1 spot for the Boxers. She was also second team in doubles. Stella Nishimura (Moanalua) was second team in singles and doubles and Mia Yamaguchi (Mid-Pacific) was third team in singles. Other Hawaii athletes honored were Linfield’s Kaitlyn Canubida (Maryknoll) second team in singles and third team in doubles, Kaylee Yamada (Hilo) of Puget Sound third team in singles and doubles and Willamette was represented by Alexa De Crinis (Seabury Hall) in the second team doubles and third team singles.

MEN’S TRACK AND FIELD

Connor Malinger (Hawaii Baptist), Lehigh: The senior beat his personal best by five seconds in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the ECAC/IC4A Championships, clocking at 9:20.63 to finish fifth.

WOMEN’S TRACK AND FIELD

Kekaihulali Halpern (Hilo), Saint Martin’s: Hit two personal bests at the Bryan Clay Invitational, a 2:12.76 to finish 21st in the 800 and a 4:33.56 to take 42nd in the 1,500 meters. Those times were four seconds faster than her times a week prior. Her twin sister, Kekaimalino Halpern (Hilo) achieved personal bests of 2:27.10 in the 800 and 11:54.18 in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the Larry Byerly Invitational.

Elle Rimando (Mililani), Mount Holyoke: Won both jumping events at the MHC-Smith-Wellesley Tri-Meet, leaping 17 feet, 5.25 inches in the long jump and 33-5.75 in the triple jump. She scored 10 of her team’s 15 points, but the Lyons finished in last.

Kayla Sepulveda (Kamehameha), Occidental: Notched personal bests in the discus and hammer throw at the Leopard Invite, heaving the hammer 115 feet, 5 inches for second place and spinning the discus 137-6 for ninth. She is in the top 10 in the conference in all three throwing disciplines.

MEN’S VOLLEYBALL

Kaden Komine (Maryknoll), Rutgers-Newark: Helped the Scarlet Raiders to their third straight conference title with three assists and six digs in a sweep of Baruch. He has played 228 sets over 73 matches during the school’s run of titles, Rutgers was 15-8 before he came along and 61-31 since while improving its winning percentage every season.

Tyce Nakamura (Mililani), Simpson University: Took the Red Hawks to their conference championship before they lost 3-1 to Westcliff despite the setter’s career-high 38 assists. He finished the season with 442 in 74 sets and was named to California Pacific honorable mention. Afatia Thompson (Punahou) and Akira Davies (Kaiser) were second team selections. Davies put down 53 kills in five tournament matches and Thompson put down 27.

Keau Thompson (Punahou), Menlo: Carried the load with nine kills in two sweeps at the hands of Stanford, adding two blocks to give him a block in six straight matches. The senior spent the middle of the season as a libero but still finished fifth in kills with 82 and fourth in digs with 50. He played only 45 of 66 sets.

Aidan Tune (Punahou), Pepperdine: Went to the service line with the score tied at 22 against Southern California and delivered three straight points, including an ace, to help the Waves sweep and clinch a share of the MPSF regular season title in front of a record crowd of 2,870. It was his first time with an ace and no service errors since the middle of March. Pepperdine begins the MPSF Tournament against Jessup today.

WOMEN’S WATER POLO

Waiahuli Akau (Kamehameha-Hawaii), Augustana Illinois: Was named to the Collegiate Water Polo Association Division III team after scoring 40 goals and adding seven assists during the season, according to the school.

Kawehi Kauahi (Punahou), Loyola Marymount: Will be one of only two — Hawaii’s Tea Brandon (Kamehameha) is the other — products of Hawaii high schools to compete in the NCAA Women’s Championship beginning today. The junior has scored 13 goals and dished out 17 assists in 22 starts this season, with five points in three matches against teams that are also in the tournament.