Akina to coach BYUH women

Hiram Akina, who coached Kahuku High’s boys teams the past two seasons, has been named women’s basketball coach at Brigham Young-Hawaii.

Akina replaces Wendy Anae, who coached the team for the first four years of its existence and is leaving to further her education, according to a press release.

Akina, who graduated from BYUH in 1983 and obtained a master’s from BYU in 1986, has coached basketball the past 26 years. He was 46-13 at Kahuku the past two seasons.

He was previously an assistant coach for the BYUH men’s team and for the women’s team at BYU.

BYUH went 9-17 last season.

"I have a vision of what this program can become," said Akina in a statement. "I can’t wait to get started and I expect to win a lot of games here."

Okimoto part of football summit

Farrington High School football coach Randall Okimoto has been selected as Hawaii’s representative to the NFL-USA Football Summit in Canton, Ohio.

In its 11th year, the summit, which is funded by the NFL and its union, recognizes 51 high school coaches (one from each state and Washington, D.C.) for their contribution. The event will be held Wednesday through Friday.

NFL Hall of Famer Mike Haynes and former NFL players Merril Hoge and Darrin Smith will be among the speakers.

Leaders in the fields of sports medicine and sports psychology will discuss various topics facing youth sports. The summit also will include an NCAA session on eligibility and recruiting and demonstrations on proper equipment fitting.

Suiter snags player of year honor

Punahou outfielder Michael Suiter was selected as the Hawaii high school player of the year by Louisville Slugger and the National Baseball Coaches Association yesterday.

Suiter, an incoming Buffanblu senior, was one of 48 players chosen by BCA coaches as the best prep player in the state.

Suiter will play in the Area Code Baseball tournament on Aug. 5-10 in Long Beach, Calif.

Nishimoto, Castillo take Pro-Pro title

Wade Nishimoto and Ron Castillo Jr. combined to fire a two-day total of 12-under-par 129 to clinch the Kaanapali Pro-Pro Championship in Lahaina yesterday.

The duo teamed up to shoot a 6-under-par 65 on the Royal Kaanapali Course to edge the teams of Andrew Feldmann and Larry Stubblefield (130) and first-round leaders Ben Hongo and Kevin Shimomura (130) by one stroke in the better-ball format tournament.

Nishimoto and Castillo split the $2,000 winners purse.