College Report: Ka‘u grad Jacob Edwards leaves mark

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During his productive career, Wyoming senior Jacob Edwards was a record-setter in hurdles for both the indoor and outdoor seasons, soaring high and running fast to leave a couple of all-time marks at the school.

During his productive career, Wyoming senior Jacob Edwards was a record-setter in hurdles for both the indoor and outdoor seasons, soaring high and running fast to leave a couple of all-time marks at the school.

Last year, the 2010 Ka‘u graduate ran a time of 14.74 seconds in the 110-meter hurdles to place 10th in Cowboy history.

He improved that time with a 14.58 at his school’s Cowpoke Open in May.

In the Mountain West Conference outdoor track and field championships last Saturday in the Cowboys’ Laramie backyard, Edwards finished ninth in the 110 hurdles in 14.65.

Edwards established a school indoor record in the 60-meter hurdles as a junior. He ran an 8.13 last season to set his second top-10 mark in school history.

Edwards is majoring in sociology. And he’s earned Academic All-MWC honors.

TRACK AND FIELD

Carleton College senior discus thrower Kao Sutton (Kamehameha, 2010) will compete in the NCAA Division III outdoor track and field championships, which run through Saturday at Northfield, Minn.

Sutton makes her second trip to nationals as a senior after earning All-American honors by placing fourth in the shot put at the NCAA Indoor Championships.

On Saturday, she will compete in the discus as the No. 3 seed, after recording a school-record distance of 46.71 meters earlier in the season.

FOOTBALL

UH sophomore safety Damien Packer (Keaau, 2012) was recently awarded a scholarship, fulfilling his promise to his papa to make it at a Division I school.

His grandfather, Edwin Villanueva, died while Packer was a senior at Keaau. Packer turned down small-college offers to chase his dream.

In nine games for the Rainbow Warriors (1-11) last season, Packer had four tackles, two solo.

GOLF

UH senior Nainoa Calip (Kamehameha, 2009) completed his career with a round of success, finishing tied for second at the Big West championships last month in Irvine, Calif., and being named all-conference honorable mention.

Calip was in contention for the title, but the final round was canceled because of inclement weather. He shot a 3-under 69-72—141, and placed five strokes back of UC Davis’ Matt Hansen.

He was UH’s team leader in four of the six spring tournaments, and finished his senior year with a team-best 72.8 scoring average.

In four seasons at UH, Calip competed in 36 tournaments with a 74.8 scoring average. He posted Top 25 finishes 10 times, including four Top 10s.

Washington State sophomore Nani Yanagi (Waiakea, 2011) finished in a tie for 39th place at the Pac-12 championships last month at Corvallis, Ore. She had a 13-over 76-76-77—229, 18 strokes behind medalist Alison Lee, from UCLA.

Gonzaga freshman Ciera Min (Waiakea, 2013) tied for 87th at the NCAA Division I West Regional with a 23-over 78-77-84—239 at the Tumble Creek Club at Suncadia Resort in Cle Elum, Wash., earlier this month.

At the West Coast Conference championship in April, Min tied for 12th with a 229 total, and earned All-WCC first team honors.

BASEBALL

Oklahoma Baptist junior Ridge Hoopii-Haslam (Hilo, 2011) and his Bison teammates will be the top seed in the NAIA World Series, taking on the winner between No. 8 Southern Poly and No. 9 Tabor on Saturday in Lewiston, Idaho.

In 60 games and 202 at-bats, Hoopii-Haslam is batting .351 with 10 homers, 53 RBIs, and has a .415 on-base percentage for the Bison (53-7).

To submit a candidate for a Big Island College Report feature, email kjakahi@hawaiitribune-herald.com.