High expectations natural for Park

In 2013, Northern Colorado’s Jensen Park was the Great West Conference player of the year.

He started 51 of 53 games and hit .397 with a .536 slugging percentage. He had 13 doubles, two triples, four homers and 34 RBIs with 44 runs scored.

He even stole seven bases and started 50 games in the outfield.

Those numbers are impressive enough, but considering the pain he woke up in every morning, they are almost unbelievable.

"Putting on my socks in the morning was a struggle," said Park, a 2011 graduate of ‘Iolani School.

The 5-foot-10 outfielder was dealing with a herniated disc in his back that required offseason surgery. Not wanting to miss a game, he took an epidural injection to alleviate the pain, which allowed him to get through each weekend.

It forced him to miss the first month of his junior season, which was the first for Northern Colorado as a member of the Western Athletic Conference.

That 2014 season was a wake-up call for the Bears, who won only 10 games total and went 4-23 in conference.

Park came back to play the entire WAC season and managed to hit .304 with four homers and 22 RBIs.

Those numbers are pretty good for most Division I players, but not for Park, a career .378 hitter.

He’s shown that in his senior year, hitting a staggering .424 (61-for-144) with nine doubles, three triples, four homers and 29 RBIs.

He’s already stolen a career-high 12 bases and his batting average ranks fourth in all of Division I.

Even with that kind of production, Park says he’s still not at 100 percent.

"Healthier," he admitted. "I sprained my shoulder a couple of weeks back when we played Chicago State and I was playing center field for a while not able to throw the ball.

"Luckily it didn’t affect my hitting."

Park is one of five Bears from Hawaii playing for coach Carl Iwasaki, a UNC alum who was born in Hawaii.

After starting the year 3-11, Northern Colorado is 12-9 in the WAC and has clinched a berth in the conference tournament in Mesa, Ariz., in two weeks.

The Bears are tied in the conference with Sacramento State, which they play this weekend, before closing out the regular season at home against Seattle University, which is 14-7 in conference.

"We’ve got two of the better teams coming up in the next two weeks and hopefully we can jump up a little bit," Park said. "I think we’ll be really competitive (in the tournament). The WAC right now is kind of anyone’s game."

The other four Bears from Hawaii are senior infielders Reyn Sugai (University ’11) and Ryan Yamane (Punahou ’11) and left-handers Dylan Shiraki (Honokaa ’12) and Brayden Willing-McCutcheon (Molokai ’14).

Sugai, who transferred from Temple last season, is hitting .339 with four doubles, a triple and 34 runs scored in 37 games.

Shiraki is 2-2 with a 6.68 ERA in 321⁄3 innings, striking out 27, and Willing-McCutcheon is expected to redshirt.

Yamane has played alongside Park for four years and is currently 15th on the school’s all-time hits list with 179.

He was hitting .400 (22-for-55) with five doubles, a triple and 10 runs scored in 14 games before fracturing his foot in a play at home plate against Chicago State.

Park said Yamane is expected to apply for a medical redshirt and his career might not be over.

Without him, Park and Sugai have stepped up their games.

Park now holds the school’s all-time hits record with 266 and is tied for the record in triples with 17.

"It kind of doesn’t surprise me," Park said of the accolades. "I kind of expected to put up good numbers because that’s the way I wanted to perform. You have to expect to do well."

CAREER STATISTICS

Notes

Koon named NWC Player of the Year

Willamette (Ore.) senior first baseman Tiras Koon, a 2011 ‘Iolani graduate, was named the Northwest Conference player of the year on Friday.

Koon won the triple crown in the conference, leading everyone with a .402 batting average, 12 home runs and 45 RBIs.

He also hit 10 doubles and scored 36 runs with 22 walks. His on-base percentage was .500 and he slugged .750.

“Tiras had an incredible season. The hard work and dedication that he has put into being a better baseball player throughout his career paid off during his senior season,” Willamette coach Aaron Swick said in a press release. “There were times during the season when he single-handedly won the games. This is a well-deserved award.”

The Bearcats finished the season 21-18 overall and 10-14 in conference.

Around The Nation

BASEBALL

#187; Beau Branton, Punahou ’14: The Stanford freshman hit the game-tying RBI single and then scored the winning run in the ninth inning of a 6-5 win over Oregon on Sunday. Branton finished 3-for-10 with three runs and two RBIs in a series, but the Cardinal lost two of three.

#187; Kewby Meyer, Kamehameha ’11: The Nevada left fielder finished 6-for-14 with three doubles, two homers, five runs and nine RBIs in a three-game sweep of New Mexico over the weekend.

#187; Ka‘ai Tom, Saint Louis ’12: The Kentucky left fielder went 3-for-8 with three walks, three runs, an RBI and a stolen base as the Wildcats lost two of three against No. 8 Vanderbilt over the weekend.

#187; Rick Nomura, Punahou ’12: The Arkansas second baseman drew a walk and hit a solo homer in his only start against Alabama, a 4-0 win on Saturday.

#187; Christian Donahue, ‘Iolani ’14: The Oregon State freshman went 4-for-13 with a walk and two runs scored to help the Beavers win two of three against Washington over the weekend.

#187; K.J. Harrison, Punahou ’14: The Oregon State first baseman finished 3-for-9 with three walks and two RBIs against the Huskies.

#187; Travis Garcia-Perreira, Mid-Pacific ’12: The Grand Canyon left-hander picked up his second save, pitching 12⁄3 scoreless innings of two-hit ball in a 12-8 win over Seattle University on Friday. Garcia-Perreira pitched twice in the series, allowing one run on three hits in 32⁄3 innings with one walk and one strikeout.

#187; Kalei Contrades, Saint Louis ’11: The San Jose State right-hander allowed four runs on seven hits with four walks and five strikeouts in a 4-0 loss to Fresno State on Friday.

#187; Turtle Kuhaulua, Kapaa ’14: The San Jose State freshman struck out nine in six innings of relief, allowing one run on six hits with a walk in a 3-0 loss to Fresno State on Sunday.

#187; Josh Inouye, ‘Iolani ’14: The Santa Clara freshman made two relief appearances against Saint Mary’s, striking out two of the three batters he faced to help the Broncos win two of three in the series.

#187; Travis Shaw, Saint Louis ’11: The St. Martin’s (Wash.) senior was named to the All-Great Northwest Conference second team as a third baseman on Monday. Shaw, who was a first-team selection last year, hit .315 with 13 doubles, three homers and 33 runs scored.

#187; Raymond Pedrina, Campbell ’13: The Lewis & Clark State sophomore was named to the All-NAIA West team on Tuesday and also earned a Gold Glove as a center fielder. Pedrina batted .313 with seven homers and 32 RBIs for the Warriors, who went 24-4 in league and 41-11 overall to advance to the Avista-NAIA World Series beginning May 22.

#187; Ryan McMonigle, Kailua ’11: The Concordia (Ore.) senior allowed a hit before recording the final out to earn his second save in a 3-0 win over British Columbia on Sunday.

#187; Austin Darmawan, ‘Iolani ’13: The Washington (Mo.) third baseman went 2-for-5 with a walk, two runs and two stolen bases in a doubleheader split against Greenville on Saturday.

#187; Gabe Gunter, King Kekaulike ’13: The Cal Lutheran outfielder walked, doubled and scored a run in a 14-0 win over La Verne on Sunday to force a winner-take-all SCIAC title game. Gunter went 1-for-3 in a 4-2 loss to the Leopards in the second game.

#187; Landry Kiyabu, Hawaii Baptist ’11: The Cal Lutheran right-hander allowed one run on one hit with five walks and three strikeouts in 42⁄3 innings and didn’t factor into the decision in the 4-2 loss to La Verne.

MEN’S GOLF

#187; John Oda, Moanalua ’14: The UNLV freshman shot a 2-over 74 on Sunday to finish in a tie for 13th place at even par at the Mountain West Conference Championships. The Rebels will play in a regional for the 27th consecutive year, earning the No. 6 seed in the NCAA Noblesville Regional in Indianapolis beginning May 14.

#187; Michael Fan, Kamehameha ’11: The Air Force junior finished in 50th place at the MWC Championships after closing with a 74 to finish at 12-over 228.

SOFTBALL

#187; Kimberlee Souza, ‘Iolani ’11: The Washington catcher hit a walk-off homer to give the Huskies a 5-4 win over Oregon State in the opener of a three-game series on Saturday. Souza hit a grand slam in Sunday’s 14-8 loss and finished 4-for-10 with four walks, three runs and six RBIs in the series the Huskies won.

#187; Mikela Manewa, Kapolei ’12: The Oregon State second baseman finished 5-for-14 with a walk, a run and two RBIs against Washington.

#187; Kristi Belshe, Kalani ’11: The Texas Tech catcher finished 4-for-10 with three doubles, a walk, three runs and an RBI to help the Red Raiders close the regular season, winning two of three against Iowa State over the weekend.

#187; Jadelyn Yadao-Valdez, Mililani ’14: The UNLV third baseman went 4-for-6 with a walk, five runs, an RBI and a stolen base to help the Rebels win two of three against Colorado State over the weekend.

#187; Fahren Glackin, Kamehameha ’14: The UNLV right fielder went 1-for-4 with three walks, two runs and a stolen base against Colorado State.

#187; Taylor Shimizu, Baldwin ’11: The Tennessee State left fielder went 2-for-7 with two walks, two runs and two stolen bases as the Tigers lost two of three to Belmont over the weekend.

#187; Krystin Kubo, Leilehua ’12: The Weber State infielder finished 2-for-6 with a double and an RBI to help the Wildcats end the regular season with a three-game sweep of Montana over the weekend.

MEN’S TRACK & FIELD

#187; Devin Jenkins, Kapolei ’12: The Texas A&M junior finished fifth in the 100-meter dash with a time of 10.45 seconds and sixth in the 200-meter dash with a time of 21.04 seconds at the Horned Frog Invitational on Saturday.

#187; Pierce Murphy, Island School ’11: The Colorado junior ran the ninth-fastest time in school history in the men’s 5,000-meter run at 13:37.05 to finish sixth at the Payton Jordan Invitational on Saturday.

#187; Trey Oshiro-Atabay, Mid-Pacific ’13: The Pacific (Ore.) junior tied for second place in the 200-meter run with a time of 22.44 seconds at the Pacific Twilight meet on Friday.

WOMEN’S TRACK & FIELD

#187; Briggite Russo, Punahou ’11: The Lewis & Clark senior won the women’s hammer throw with a distance of 42.26 meters at the Pacific Twilight meet on Friday.

#187; Kristine Felix, Baldwin ’12: The Washington State junior finished second in the women’s pole vault, clearing 4.16 meters in a dual meet against Washington on Saturday.

#187; Sophie Curatilo, Moanalua ’11: The Seattle University senior finished eighth in the women’s 1,500-meter race with a time of 4 minutes, 30.14 seconds at the Oregon State High Performance Track and Field Meet last Friday.

#187; Dawne Yamamoto, Mililani ’12: The Pacific (Ore.) junior participated on the women’s 1,600-meter relay team that finished first with the second-fastest time in school history at 4:19.06 at the Pacific Twilight.

MEN’S VOLLEYBALL

#187; Josh Taylor, Punahou ’11: The Pepperdine outside hitter was named to the AVCA All-America first team on Monday after making the second team last year. Taylor, who was named to the MPSF All-Tournament team last weekend, finished his career with 1,433 kills, ranking ninth in school history. As a senior, Taylor averaged 3.75 kills per set while hitting .369. He hit a blistering .417 with 22 kills, eight digs and a solo block in a four-set win over Hawaii in the MPSF semifinals last Thursday. He had a team-high 23 kills, six digs and two aces in a four-set loss to UC Irvine in the MPSF championship on Friday.

#187; Micah Christenson, Kamehameha ’11: The Southern California senior setter was a repeat selection to the AVCA All-America first team on Monday. Christenson totaled 1,095 assists, 233 digs and 43 aces as a senior to lead the Trojans in each category. He had 41 assists, seven digs, three kills, two block assists and an ace in a five-set loss to UC Irvine in the MPSF semifinals last Thursday.

#187; Larry Tuileta, Punahou ’14: The USC outside hitter finished with eight kills, nine digs, three block assists and three assists in the MPSF semifinals against UC Irvine.

WOMEN’S WATER POLO

#187; Lauren Boyer, Punahou ’13: The UC San Diego sophomore recorded a hat trick in a 17-11 win over Whittier (Calif.) on Saturday in the NCAA play-in game. The Tritons (19-18) moved on to the eight-team NCAA Championship field and will play No. 2 seed UCLA on Friday.

#187; Courtney Miller, Punahou ’12: The UCSD goalkeeper made four saves against Whittier and helped the Tritons advance to the NCAA Championships for the fourth time in five years.

Compiled by the Star-Advertiser’s Billy Hull. To submit an athlete for publication, email bhull@staradvertiser.com.