One of the biggest kickboxing events in all of Hawaii will take place this weekend on the east side.
Toughman Hawaii’s Next Generation Interisland Qualifier will be held Saturday night at Hilo Civic. Doors will open at 4 p.m., followed by the fights beginning at 5 p.m.
Fifty boxers aged 6 through 18 from across the islands will be competing for a chance to punch their tickets to the Toughman Hawaii Semifinals and Finals from Oct. 18-19 in Hilo. A total of 25 fights will take place on Saturday.
Admission is $40 for general seating, $50 for ringside. Tickets can be purchased at the door or at Stunnah HI in the Prince Kuhio Plaza.
UHH student-athletes set new academic mark
Vulcans student-athletes once again set new all-time academic marks by posting a 3.284 combined grade-point average for the 2023-24 school year. Additionally, 160 honorees were recognized on the Academic All-PacWest Team for maintaining a cumulative GPA of 3.0 and higher.
This year’s combined GPA mark bests last year’s record of 3.246 with 127 Vulcans named to the Academic All-PacWest Team.
Hawai’i Hilo ranked No. 8 among all other Pacific West Conference members. Point Loma repeated as recipient of the PacWest Conference Academic Achievement Award with a 3.52 GPA.
On the broader scale, all conference members combined to post the highest number of Academic All-PacWest Team honorees at 1,900 total — topping last year’s mark of 1,822. The Vulcans contributed six of the PacWest’s record-setting 125 total of 4.0-GPA achieving student-athletes.
The Hawai’i Hilo Men’s Golf team was one of four PacWest Conference Champions to also finish atop their respective sport’s conference leaders with eight Academic All-PacWest Team selections (tying with HPU and Chaminade). The other academic-achieving conference champs were Azusa Pacific women’s basketball, Biola women’s golf and Concordia University-Irvine softball.
To qualify, student-athletes have to achieve at least a cumulative 3.0 grade-point average, completed at least two semesters at their institution and participated in regular-season competition in one of the 15 PacWest-sponsored sports.
This year, the highest men’s team total was Azusa Pacific baseball with 31. Track and field squads from Concordia University Irvine and Biola followed shortly behind with 30 honorees each. For the women, Point Loma track and field had a total of 45 scholar-athletes.
Totaling all sports in which each school competed, Biola led the way with 239 PacWest All-Academic members, followed by CUI (229).
Women’s golf earns WGCA All-American Scholar Team honors
Hawai’i Hilo Women’s Golf’s Isabella Ranches, Kailey Oki and Elle Otani earned distinction on the 2023-24 Women’s Golf Coaches Association All-American Scholar Team as announced by WGCA last week. The trio were among 1,497 women’s collegiate golfers from 412 programs recognized for achieving a cumulative grade point average of 3.50 or higher.
To be selected, student-athletes must:
• Have an overall cumulative grade point average of 3.50 or higher.
• Be an amateur and be on the team’s roster through the conclusion of the team’s season.
• Have participated in 50 percent of the college’s regularly scheduled competitive rounds during the year nominated through the team’s conference championship.
Oki and Otani are repeat selections from a year ago. Oki also earned the Hawai’i Hilo Women’s Golf Scholar-Athlete award for highest GPA on the team.
The Women’s Golf Coaches Association, founded in 1983, is a non-profit organization representing women’s collegiate golf coaches. The WGCA was formed to encourage the playing of college golf for women in correlation with a general objective of education and in accordance with the highest tradition of intercollegiate competition. Today, the WGCA represents over 700 coaches throughout the U.S. and is dedicated to educating, promoting and recognizing both its members and the student-athletes they represent.
Honoka‘a seeking coach
Honoka‘a High School is currently seeking a boys and girls track and field coach for the 2024-25 academic year. Those interested may contact athletic director Keith Tolentino at keith.tolentino@k12.hi.us or (808) 775-8800. Deadline to apply is August 15.