SWIMMING

Freshman Nihipali dominates conference championship meet

Wagner College freshman Anu Nihipali swept the individual swimming awards at the Northeast Conference Swimming and Diving Championships on Saturday in Boston.

Nihipali, a 2013 Hawaii Prep graduate, won both the rookie of the meet and outstanding swimmer of the meet awards for the Seahawks, who won the conference title by becoming the first team to break the 800-point mark since 2003.

Nihipali won the 200-yard backstroke with a school-record time of 1 minute, 59.38 seconds. She also won the 100-yard backstroke and 200-yard individual medley and set a new conference record of 53.42 seconds in the 100 backstroke to earn a spot in the NCAA B-Qualifier.

She also swam a leg on the winning 400-yard freestyle relay team that also set a school record with a time of 3:26.59.

SOFTBALL

Boxers and Lutes play a wild one

Eight local high schools were represented in one of the more memorable collegiate softball games in recent history.

Pacific (Ore.) and Pacific Lutheran combined for 42 runs, 32 hits, five doubles, three homers and six stolen bases as 116 batters came to the plate in the Boxers’ 23-19 win in eight innings over the Lutes on Saturday.

The game took 3 hours, 55 minutes and was the first game of a scheduled doubleheader. Game 2 was postponed at the end of the third inning due to darkness and finished on Sunday, with Pacific winning 16-8.

Four starters from Pacific were from Hawaii, including shortstop Quirena Natividad (University ’12), who went

2-for-6 with a double, three runs, two RBIs, a walk and a stolen base. Catcher Kylee Oshiro (Moanalua ’11) went 2-for-3 with two runs, two walks, a hit by pitch and an RBI, and left fielder Kylee Yamamoto (Hawaii Baptist ’12) went 3-for-4 with two walks, two runs and an RBI.

Third baseman Kaitlyn Shikada (‘Iolani ’11) hit one of the game’s three home runs and was 2-for-4 with a double, three runs, four RBIs, a walk and a stolen base. Freshman Jordan Schmerbauch (Mililani ’13) entered the game as a pinch runner for the Boxers.

The Lutes countered with first baseman Tori Hamura (Mid-Pacific ’11), who doubled, scored three times, drove in a run and drew a walk. Shortstop Lindsey Matsunaga (Kaimuki ’10) went 2-for-5 with a run and two RBIs, and freshman Kailyn Osaki (Assets ’13) drew two walks, drove in a run and scored once.

Sataraka named Pac-12 player of week

UCLA sophomore third baseman Mysha Sataraka was named the Pac-12’s softball player of the week on Monday.

Sataraka, a 2012 Punahou alumna, won her first Pac-12 award after hitting .500 with nine RBIs in the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic over the weekend.

Sataraka had seven hits, scored five runs and drew four walks. One of her hits was a walk-off, two-run double against Missouri on Saturday to give the Bruins a 4-3 win.

She set a career high with five RBIs against Maryland in the later game on Saturday, finishing a triple shy of the cycle.

She currently leads the Bruins with 22 RBIs and is tied for first with three homers. UCLA (16-0) jumped up to No. 5 in the latest NFCA and USA Softball rankings.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Wang is first team all-conference

Lewis & Clark senior Tayler Wang, a 2010 Hawaii Prep graduate, was named to the All-Northwest Conference first team in women’s basketball Tuesday.

Wang suffered an injury against Willamette (Ore.) on Valentine’s Day and missed most of the team’s final four games. She made one last appearance in the final seconds of the Pioneers’ last game of the season against Whitman (Wash.) and scored her 901st career point.

The 5-foot-9 starting guard led the Pioneers, averaging 16.0 points per game, ranking fourth in the conference. She finished seventh in the NWC with 69 assists and averaged 7.4 rebounds per game, including 56 on the offensive glass, which was also in the top 10 in the league.

Wang shot 42.3 percent (110-for-260) from the field and connected on 33 of 105 3-point tries. She started 56 of the 106 games she played in four years with Lewis & Clark and compiled 901 points and 614 rebounds.

GYMNASTICS

Hayashida honored by the MPSF

Seattle Pacific freshman Kristi Hayashida was named the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation newcomer of the week last Wednesday in women’s gymnastics.

Hayashida, who was home-schooled with the help of Christian Education Institute, scored a 9.775 on the balance beam at a meet on Feb. 16 that included No. 13 Oregon State, No. 16 Boise State and No. 36 Utah State.

Hayashida’s score was the best recorded by any Falcons gymnast this season and helped SPU finish with a team score of 192.650 in the meet, which is its second-best total of the season.

Hayashida led the team on both the beam and floor exercise in two meets this season.

She tied for second on the floor exercise in the final home meet of the season on Friday against UC Davis, scoring a season-high 9.800 to break her mark from a week earlier.