Thanks to a 14-day quarantine for travelers from out of state that now extends to July 31, UH-Hilo coaches may not be all that close to figuring out the “when” and “what” of their seasons.
But many of them do know the “who.”
Recruiting remains in full swing during the COVID-19 pandemic, and few coaches have been as busy as women’s soccer coach Gene Okamura, who recently wrapped up a 12-member class that includes two Division I transfers.
“We return a core of players that played a ton of minutes last year, so I was looking to supplement what we have with a solid class,” Okamura said. “We graduated two goalies, three midfielders, a center back and forward. The players we have coming in will compete for starting positions right away. As a group, this is probably one of my top, if not my top recruiting class as a group.”
Okamura is in a good place: He said he had a hard time picking out one or two players to highlight from the dozen; he likes them all.
Daeleen Tokunaga, a former Hawaii Rainbow Wahine, and Megan Donovan, who transferred from McNeese State, draw attention because they have Division I experience. Tokunaga, a forward who helped Pearl City to an HHSAA title in 2016, played in 34 games over two seasons for the Wahine, starting in 11 matches and scoring two goals with an assist as a freshman after scoring 80 times in high school.
“I’m expecting Daelenn and Megan to come in and compete right away and add competition to an already competitive position for us, where we have our two returning starting forwards in (Brenna Rill) and (Nanea Wall) coming back,” Okamura said. “It also allows us to be dynamic and dangerous with the ability of playing two or three forwards up top at a time.”
A pair of junior college transfers, Julianna Garcia (Fresno City and Skyylerblu Johnson (Highline) bring championship pedigree. Johnson is on the Guam national team and helped Highline win its conference title, as did Garcia, a defender, at her last stop. Okamura’s Division II transfers were goalkeeper Viviana Poli (Biola), fullback Alison Bischof (Fort Lewis) and Bailee Brennan (UC San Diego).
While Okamura thinks Tokunaga is the first former UH soccer player to make her way to UHH, it’s also not every year that the Vuls sign three high school seniors from Alaska: Brooklyn Carver, Sylvia Xaivong and Aiyanna Lauoto. Freshmen Natalie Cuevas of Poway, Calif., and Annie Haglund of Sweden are also in the class.
“We have two freshmen (Cuevas and Haglund) that have won national championships,” Okamura said. “The five (non-Division I transfers) coming in have tons of experience from their junior college and NCAA schools.
“All these players are coming from programs with a winning and successful culture and mentality. I expect them to bring that same mentality here to UH-Hilo both on and off the field.”
Softball
UHH softball coach Callen Perreira signed College of Southern Idaho transfer Nikki Zielinski.
The 5-foot-7 sophomore played shortstop for the Eagles, hitting .447 last spring in a COVID-19 shortened season. She hit 13 home runs in just 20 games, stealing nine bases.
“Nikki will bring great work ethic, experience, power and speed to our offense while having the ability to be versatile on defense,” Perreira said in a release.
Zielinski joins a recruiting class of four that was previously announced by Perreira, all of them freshmen — Sara Bhatt (P, Murrieta, Calif.), Breanna Gonzalez (INF, Surprise, Ariz), Taisha Bratton (C/INF, Moreno Valley, Calif.) and Nia Trinidad (P/OF, Rocklin, Calif.). Additionally, freshman Kaia Bradford (OF, Redmond, Wash.) and junior Angel Prewitt (OF, Concordia-Portland) recently signed.
Zielinski, originally from Sedona, Ariz., also had a standout freshman season in 2019. She hit .365 with 13 home runs and had 11 stolen bases, earning first-team All-Region 18 honors.
“I am very excited to join a competitive program and get a quality education in such a beautiful place,” Zielinski said. “I am grateful to be a part of the UHH family, and excited to be a Vulcan.”
Cross-country
A pair of recent local graduates, Keaau’s Leilani Stone and Hilo’s Teijah Rosas, are members of a four-person class that coach Jaime Guerpo thinks could be special.
“This is one of the best recruiting classes that we have had in a very long time,” Guerpo said in a release. “I am really excited for them to get to campus and start training with our returnees.”
Also joining those six returning Vulcans are Aurea Streadbeck (Honolulu/Campbell) and Solace Bergeron (Tillamook, Ore.).
“I’m very pleased with our mix of local and mainland talent,” Guerpo said. “With the addition of Solace, Teijah, Leilani and Aurea, we will add girls running in the front pack of races and add more depth to the team. It will make our practices better. We had a little bit of that last year, with competition causing shuffling of the travel squad and I expect even more of that this year.
“Through the years, this program has had a lot of ups and downs, but we’ve battled through, and I can see the trend of talent getting better every year.”