Iolani Alumni

Kala Ka’aihue ‘03, a power-hitting first baseman for the Honolulu Sharks, is hoping for a strong finish by his team as they close out the 2008 Hawaii Winter Baseball season with two games against the Waikiki Beachboys. The Sharks are a half game behind the Beachboys and need two wins to earn a spot in the championship game against the West Oahu Canefires who have already clinched their division.

On the season, Ka’aihue leads the team in home runs (4) and RBI (14) and is also third on the team in walks (12).

Former University of Hawaii standout Bobby Nash ‘03 led his team to their first two wins in franchise history this past weekend in Fukuoka.

On Saturday evening Nash scored a team-high 27 points and grabbed 8 rebounds in a 84-78 win over the Fukuoka Rizing. He returned the next night to score a game-high 23 points (6 rebounds) to help the Lakestars again hold off the Rizing for a 70-64 victory.

The Shiga Lakestars are now 2-4 on the season and will return home for two games against the Oita Heatdevils on Saturday and Sunday.

Follow Nash on his player blog for the Lakestars. View it here »

Sydney guard Derrick Low ‘04 helped his team to back-to-back wins last weekend with an 8 point, 7 assist performance on Friday against the Gold Coast Blaze and a 25 point, 3 assist performance on Saturday against the Perth Wildcats. In each of their wins, the Spirit trailed going into the 4th quarter before mounting late comebacks to pull out the victories.

Sydney has now won four straight, including three in NBL play, and are currently in sixth place at 3-3. On the season Low is averaging 18.3 points per game and 3.8 assists with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.3:1.

In his first game as a professional, Bobby Nash ‘03, a swingman for the Shiga Lakestars of the Basketball Japan League, scored 16 points, including 14 in the first half, in a 81-78 loss to to the Osaka Evessa. The following night, he scored 11 points and grabbed 7 rebounds as the Lakestars again fell to the Evessa, 89-73.

Shiga is currently 0-2 and will travel to Takamatsu to play two games against the Five Arrows next Saturday and Sunday, October 25 and 26th.

Atlanta Braves prospect Kala Ka’aihue ‘03 hit two home runs for the Honolulu Sharks in a 6-3 win yesterday afternoon over the North Shore Honu. He is currently tied for the league lead in homers with three and is third in slugging percentage (.643).

On the season, Ka’aihue is batting .286 with 3 home runs and 8 RBI in 9 games for the Sharks who are 10-3 and have the best record in the Hawaii Winter League.

[Photo: HawaiiWinterBaseball.com]

Former UH Wahine volleyball player, Raeceen Woolford ‘03 is featured in this month’s edition of the ESPN 1420 Magazine. The reigning Miss Honolulu, who just two months ago finished as the third runner-up in the 2008 Miss Hawaii pageant, is looking to pursue a career in women’s health or pediatrics.

Take a look at the rest of the September/October 2008 edition of the ESPN 1420 Magazine online »

Not to be outdone by his older brother Kila who was called up to the Majors just over two weeks ago, Kala Ka’aihue ‘03 was named the Most Valuable Player of the playoffs after helping his team capture the Southern League Championship.

Ka’aihue, a first baseman for the Mississippi Braves (AA), batted .429 in the championship series to go along with three home runs and six RBI in five games against the Carolina Mudcats.

On the season, Ka’aihue got off to slow start (batting just .184 in April) but finished hitting .274 with 23 doubles, 2 triples, 14 home runs and 61 RBI.

According to the Honolulu Advertiser, he is hoping to play winter baseball in either the Dominican Republic or Venezuela, but could also end up back home with the Honolulu Sharks of Hawaii Winter Baseball League, which opens Sept. 27.

[Photo: Honolulu Advertiser]

Former UH standout Bobby Nash ‘03 has been in Japan for the last two months helping to promote his new team, the Shiga Lakestars of the Basketball Japan (BJ) League. The Lakestars are one of two expansion teams to join the league in 2008-09 so team officials have been active in marketing their new club - organizing meet-and-greets, participating in charity auctions, holding youth clinics, etc.

Nash will make his professional debut on October 11th when the Lakestars take on the Osaka Evessa in the BJ League season opener. (Click the link for more photos)

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Joe Udell ‘02, online editor and staff writer at the Hawaii Herald, won first place for Feature Writing in the non-daily newspapers category at the 2007 Society of Professional Journalists Awards Banquet for his story, “The Magical Reno Weekend.”

The article was published in the Herald’s Dec. 7, 2007 edition. It recapped Joe’s reunion with three longtime friends in Reno, Nev. for the University of Hawai‘i Warriors-Nevada Wolf Pack football game last November as the Warriors tried to hold on to their undefeated season.

Read the award-winning article »

Side Note: Former Iolani and UH standout Bobby Nash ‘03 is featured on the cover of the current issue of the Hawaii Herald. Pick up a copy at Borders Books and Music in Kaneohe, Waikele Center and Victoria Ward Center; Best Sellers in downtown Honolulu; Shirokiya; the Kahala, Kaimuki, McCully, Waimalu and Waipahu Times Super Markets.

Coming off an appearance in the Texas League Mid-Season All-Star Game last weekend, Kila Ka’aihue ‘02 is one of the hottest hitters in Double-A, currently 2nd in the league in home runs (18), 1st in walks (57), 2nd in on-base percentage (.437) and 5th in slugging percentage (.560).

His production dropped slightly in June, but the Northwest Arkansas first baseman is still batting .282 on the season and has earned 57 walks against just 30 strikeouts. Northwest Arkansas is the AA-affiliate of the Kansas City Royals.

Kila’s younger brother, Kala Ka’aihue ‘03, got off to a slow start this season, batting just .184 in April, but has consistently improved over the last two months with a .242 average in May and .338 average in June. On the season, he is batting .248 with 10 home runs and 39 RBI and is coming off of two home run performance two days ago against Montgomery.

Kala is a first baseman for the Mississippi Braves, the AA-affiliate of the Atlanta Braves.

Michael “Ian” Mopas ‘06 recently started his second season with the GCL Twins of the Rookie Gulf Coast League and has made 4 appearances for the team, amassing a record of 1-1. He has an ERA of 2.57 in 7 total innings of work with 4 strikeouts and 2 walks.

Keoni De Renne ‘97 has appeared in a team-high 61 games for the York Revolution (Independent League) and currently leads the team in walks (31), is 2nd in home runs (6), 2nd in doubles (13), 3rd in runs scored (30) and 4th in RBI (23).

Former Iolani and Stanford swimmer Hongzhe Sun ‘03 reached the semifinals in the 100m backstroke at the U.S. Olympic Trials with the ninth best qualifying time of 54.83 (seconds), but fell short of the 8-man final which will be held today in Omaha, Nebraska.

Sun finished 11th in the semifinals with a personal-best time of 54.47, 1.38 seconds off of 1st place and .29 seconds behind the final qualifier.

Sun graduated from Stanford University in 2007 with a degree in Management Science & Engineering and currently works as the Business Development/ Monetization Product Manager at Cooliris, an internet company based in San Francisco.

[Photo: GoStanford.com]

Former Iolani and University of Hawaii basketball standout Bobby Nash ‘03 has signed to play professionally with the Shiga Lakestars of Basketball Japan.

Also known as the “BJ League“, the Basketball Japan League will be entering its fourth season and is composed of 12 teams separated into two divisions. Shiga competes in the Western Conference and is one of two expansion teams added to the league for the 2008-09 season.

Compared to the more established JBL (Japan Basketball League), the BJ League, though newer, is generally considered the more entertaining of the two leagues and draws a larger audience. The BJ League places fewer restrictions on the acquisition and participation of foreign players as opposed to the JBL which focuses on featuring the top Japan-born players due to its affiliation with the National Team.

Kila Ka’aihue ‘02, a power-hitting first baseman for the Northwest Arkansas Naturals (AA affiliate of the Royals), hit a 400-ft bomb over the centerfield fence to bring his league-leading home run total to 10 early in the 2008 season.

Ka’aihue is second in the league in RBI (29) and fifth in slugging percentage (.589) while batting .263 with an on-base percentage of .408. His hitting coach, Tommy Gregg, credits a more disciplined approach for his hot start, saying “He’s still aggressive, but he’s laying off the pitches that he was swinging at in the dirt last year and fastballs up. He’s staying in the strike zone more and swinging at pitches that are his strength.” On the season, Ka’aihue has just 13 strikeouts to his 23 walks.

[Photo: Northwest Arkansas]

Kala ‘03, Kila’s younger brother, hit his first home run of the season yesterday to go along with a double and 4 RBI in a 9-7 comeback win against the West Tennessee Diamond Jaxx of the AA-Southern League. On the season, he is batting just .183 with 36 strikeouts for the Mississippi Braves.

On Saturday evening, senior guard Bobby Nash ‘03 will take the floor at the Stan Sheriff Center for one final game as a member of the University of Hawaii men’s basketball team.

It’s been a long road, but in his five years as a student-athlete at the University of Hawaii, Nash has accomplished more than most. On the court, the 6-6 swingman is just 32 points shy of reaching the 1,000 point milestone having played nearly every position on the floor during his career as a Warrior. This season, he is averaging 14.3 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.7 assists and could become the first four-time Academic All-WAC selection in the program’s history.

Off the court, Nash has already earned his degree in political science - a feat he attributes, in small part, to his alma mater. “Looking back, Iolani really prepared me for college,” he said in today’s Honolulu Advertiser. “Graduating in four years was a huge thing for me.”

Nash hopes to continue playing professionally next season, but has shown interest in the field of law and is considering law school once his playing days are over.

The University of Hawaii will play their final two home games tonight against Idaho and on Saturday against Boise State (Senior Night). Both games will tipoff at 7:05pm at the Stan Sheriff Center (Televised on K5).

[Photo: HawaiiAthletics.com]

“UH’s favorite son finishing stellar career” - Honolulu Advertiser »
“Season of destiny for Nash” - Honolulu Star-Bulletin »

Watch as the Honolulu Star-Bulletin follows former UH Wahine Volleyball standout Kanoe Kamana’o ‘03 at Opening Day of the 2008 Legislative Session.

Currently working as the office manager for State Senator David Ige, Kanoe joined Senator Ige’s staff late last fall during a special session convened to deal with the Hawaii Superferry.

Video filmed, edited and produced by Jason Genegabus ‘95, an entertainment and nightlife writer for the Honolulu Star-Bulletin.

Holy Names University senior forward Chad Miller ‘03 recorded his best game of the season last Saturday when he scored 11 points and grabbed 4 rebounds in a 75-57 win over CSU-Maritime.

On the season, the 6-6 forward has appeared in all 20 games and is averaging 3.15 points per game on 42.6% shooting and currently leads the team in total blocks with 7.

Holy Names University is located in Oakland, California and competes in the California Pacific Conference (”Cal Pac”), a 10-member league in NAIA Division II. To date, the Hawks are 11-9 overall and 4-2 in conference.