HOMEGROWN REPORT
Pochereva lifts Irvine sailors
By Leila Wai
Advertiser Staff Writer
UC Irvine junior William Pochereva captured his first national championship as a member of the school's Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association Sloop Championship team.
"It came down to the last race on the last day," said Pochereva, a 2003 Punahou graduate. "We were in the lead by one point so we had to beat Georgetown. We beat them by four points."
Irvine, which qualified for the nationals by winning the Sloop Pacific Coast Championships, scored a low-best 41 points. Georgetown (45) was second and Texas A&M Galveston (48) was third.
The championships were held at the Gull Lake Yacht Club at Richland, Mich., last weekend.
"It was cold, but as the day went on it warmed up," Pochereva said. "(In) lake sailing the wind is a lot more shifty, so you have to pay attention a lot more to how the wind is. Things can change a lot more drastically."
Pochereva, who has been sailing for "pretty much my whole life" and racing since he was 12, said sailing was a "big determiner" in his decision to go to UC Irvine, a perennial top 20 team.
He returned home last month, and placed ninth at the Pacific Coast Singlehanded Sailing Championships in Honolulu.
"I usually come home for Christmas and in the summer," Pochereva said, "so it was good to have a little break in between there."
FOOTBALL
Sophomore linebacker Jordon Dizon (Waimea '04) had six tackles, including a 12-yard sack.
Sophomore nose tackle Wilson Afoa (Saint Louis '03 of Honolulu) had five tackles, including one for a loss of 2 yards, and junior defensive tackle Donny Mateaki (Iolani '02 of Ho-nolulu) had a 3-yard sack.
He was named as one of the team's Foothill Conference Players of the Week.
Freshman outside linebacker Derek Hinkley (Punahou '04 of Kane'ohe) had three tackles and a sack.
Also playing for Puget Sound are junior linebacker Jason Owens (Punahou of Honolulu), sophomore tight end Noa Higgins (Punahou of Honolulu) and junior defensive lineman Kainoa Yoshida (Kamehameha of Honolulu).
Owens had two tackles and Yoshida had one tackle in the game.
WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
Ogoshi averaged 12.10 assists, 4.40 digs and 1.10 kills per game in road wins over William & Mary and Virginia Commonwealth.
CROSS COUNTRY
Michelle Lee (Mililani '05) finished 71st (25:59.50) and fellow freshman Jennifer Playdon (University High '05) was 73rd (26:23.20).
Puget Sound (Tacoma, Wash.) sophomore Suzi Pratt (Hawai'i Baptist of Kapolei) was 80th (27:16.50).
WOMEN'S SOCCER
Garbin scored in the 36th minute on a low shot just inside the left post from 17 yards.
Oregon had been 0-8-1 against Washington. The win also snapped a 16-match Pac-10 winless streak for the Ducks, dating to a 1-0 win at Arizona late in the 2003 season.
MEN'S SOCCER
Kim scored his second goal of the season in the 14th minute in a 3-1 win over Cleveland State on Oct. 26. He also had an assist on the team's third goal in that game.
SWIMMING
She won the 200 freestyle (1:51.80) and 100 freestyle (52.49) and was second in the 500 freestyle (4:54.96). She also swam the breaststroke in the 400 medley relay.
Sun won the 100 backstroke (49.46) and 200 backstroke (1:47.31). He also was 21st in the 200 breaststroke (2:12.45), fifth in the 200 IM (1:52.62), and swam the third leg on the 200 and 800 freestyle relays.
Stanford sophomore Noa Sakamoto (Punahou '04) was 13th in the 200 butterfly (1:55.92) and 35th in the 500 freestyle (4:56.84).
California sophomore Mark Eckert (Iolani '04) tied for seventh in the 200 backstroke (1:52.69), eighth in the 100 backstroke (53.68) and 25th in the 200 IM (1:58.03)
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Reach Leila Wai at lwai@honoluluadvertiser.com.