Hawaii athletics: List of student-athletes expected to have senior years cut short due to coronavirus threat

Rado Parapunov will forever remain 14 kills shy of 1,000 for his Hawaii volleyball career after spring championships were canceled by the NCAA on Thursday. / Photo by Jamm Aquino, Star-Advertiser

Some 56 University of Hawaii student-athletes were likely impacted more than the hundreds of others with Thursday’s news of NCAA sports championships being canceled through the spring.

The seniors and graduate students.

Some were at the tail end of their college careers, like the five basketball players who had the Big West tournaments pulled out from underneath them. Others were less than halfway through their season, like baseball and softball.

Barring sports being reinstated in the coming weeks, or some form of eligibility relief from the NCAA in the form of a waiver or special exemption for next year, their playing days at UH are over.

UPDATE: There is a petition circulating for the NCAA to extend eligibility for affected seniors nationwide.

UPDATE II: On Friday, the NCAA put forth the possibility of extended eligibility for all spring sports student-athletes (not just seniors).

Here they are, by sport.

Baseball
>> Brennen Hancock
>> Ryder Kuhns
>> Tyler Murray
>> Logan Pouelsen

Logan Pouelsen threw to North Dakota State on Feb. 14. / Photo by Jamm Aquino, Star-Advertiser

Beach volleyball
>> Amy Ozee
>> Norene Iosia
>> Julia Scoles
>> Morgan Martin
>> Harlee Kekauoha

Julia Scoles competed against Stanford on Feb. 23. / Photo by Bruce Asato, Star-Advertiser

Cheerleading
>> Christian Feliciano
>> Alyssa Witney Lott
>> Chance Lutostanski

Golf (men)
>> Trevor Hirata
>> Nick Nelson

Golf (women)
>> Malia Ebersberger
>> Megan Ratcliffe


Men’s basketball
>> Zigmars Raimo
>> Eddie Stansberry

Zigmars Raimo and Eddie Stansberry posed after senior night on Feb. 29. / Photo by Andrew Lee, Special to the Star-Advertiser

Women’s basketball
>> Courtney Middap
>> Savannah Reier
>> Julissa Tago

Julissa Tago, Savannah Reier and Courtney Middap posed on senior night March 7. / Photo by Andrew Lee, Special to the Star-Advertiser

Sailing
>> Isabelle Anderson
>> Megan Lucas
>> Patrick Wilkinson

Softball
>> Callee Heen
>> Angelique “Cheeks” Ramos

Callee Heen warmed up for Portland State on Feb. 20. / Photo by Steven Erler, Special to the Star-Advertiser

Swimming/Diving (men)
>> Mateusz Chaba
>> Lucas Cooperman
>> Kane Follows
>> Olli Kokko
>> Grant Newcombe
>> Josh Parmenter
>> David Springhetti
>> Kyle Swardenski

Swimming/diving (women)
>> Phoebe Hines
>> Jami Stone
>> Katrina Sudweeks
>> Sophia Taylor

Tennis (men)
>> Chia-hua Lu

Tennis (women)
>> Nikola Dolakova
>> Petra Melounova
>> Michelle Pits

Petra Melounova is the only three-time Big West Player of the Year in UH tennis history. / 2019 file photo by Craig T. Kojima, Star-Advertiser

Track and field
>> Calli-Ann Abbott
>> Alexis Brenzil
>> Natasha Currence
>> Tatiana Desender
>> Megan Fereira
>> Teuila Gardner
>> Shannon McClish
>> Tristan Setzer
>> Aubrie Usui


Volleyball (men)
>> James Anastassiades
>> Patrick Gasman
>> Colton Cowell
>> Rado Parapunov

Hawaii’s Colton Cowell (17) slammed down a point over Nittaidai’s Shuto Kawaguchi (21) and Mutsumi Fujimaki (19) of an exhibition on Feb. 26. / Photo by Andrew Lee, Special to the Star-Advertiser

Water polo
>> Samantha Malouff

COMMENTS

  1. 808 March 12, 2020 5:21 pm

    Thanks for putting this list together, Brian. Most people knew about the basketball and volleyball players, but so many others in other sports are affected too. There’s a change.org petition asking the NCAA to give these seniors and others at other institutions another year of eligibility. https://www.change.org/p/ncaa-let-ncaa-athletes-get-a-year-of-eligibility-back?recruiter=934425688&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=psf_combo_share_initial&utm_term=psf_combo_share_initial&recruited_by_id=346421a0-290a-11e9-ac77-57323d84e554&utm_content=fht-20799980-en-us%3Av2


  2. Matt March 13, 2020 9:45 am

    Honestly, I feel like it’s unfair for the NCAA to do this to all the schools. This is basically a giant middle finger to the athletics directors. Most of the sports programs probably have not gotten started conference play and this is how you repay them back? I feel like the seniors should be given the opportunity to redshirt just because the coronavirus thing was out of their control and they couldn’t do anything about it, and to cut their senior years short just because of this is unfair to the schools.

    It’s a buzzkill to even imagine how much the fanbase will be groaning on about, especially with some of our current UH sports programs now starting to find its stride, women’s water polo, men’s tennis, baseball, and men’s volleyball in particular.

    I feel like the ADs for all DI schools should take notice on this because you get the sense that the seniors for the respective sport they played worked hard to get where they’re at, and to take it all away is unfair and disheartening for them. They deserve better than that. And I think they should be given the chance to finish positively on a strong note.


  3. Sangamon Keith March 13, 2020 4:09 pm

    Unless you have your head in the sand, this action was mandatory. However, Matt is correct … all student athletes should have a year’s eligibility added for their option to play. That is what the ADs should be seeking for their student athletes.


Comments are closed.