Athlete graduates with honors in overcoming adversity

When Chaminade University volleyball student-athlete Valasi Sepulona graduated this spring, it was more than a celebration of achievement. It was a triumph of the spirit.

On top of successfully balancing athletics and academics, Sepulona also spent nearly two years of her four-year career at Chaminade caring for her terminally ill mother.

Sepulona, who was the product of a single-parent household in which her mother served as a strong source of support, spent the four years immediately after high school working a minimum-wage job assisting physically challenged children. Having harbored a long-standing desire to work for a police department, she made a daring decision to return to school and at 21, she enrolled at Chaminade.

But Sepulona's life took an unexpected turn when her mother was diagnosed with terminal cancer and kidney failure.

Rather than give up her dream of completing her college degree, though, Sepulona forged ahead.

She rearranged her schedule so that her classes were in the morning, leaving the afternoons free to shuttle her mother to the hospital for dialysis and cancer treatments. Sepulona spent the hours-long wait finishing her homework. Then she would take her mother back home before rushing to volleyball practice.

"Everyone was well-aware that her mom was very sick," said Chaminade volleyball coach Glennie Adams. "But Valasi is not one of those looking for pity or anything. She just went about her business like it was expected of her."

Sepulona's mother died in her sophomore year. On the day of her mother's funeral, the 2001 Pacific West Conference freshman of the year turned in one of the best on-court performances. Sepulona said she played because that's what her mother would have wanted.

That same indomitable spirit drove Sepulona to complete the journey she had started at Chaminade four years ago. In May, Sepulona earned a bachelor's degree in criminal justice. She plans to continue on to earn a master's degree.

Adams called her star player's determination inspiring.

"I guess any time you see somebody go through that much, it naturally inspires people. I'm not talking about just on the volleyball court, I'm talking about as people," she said.

Twin student-athletes excel on land and sea

When identical twins Kelly and Lori Harding recently earned opportunities to compete in national championships in two different sports at two different schools, the sisters suddenly shared much more than similar
features.

Kelly, a senior, made an appearance in the NCAA Division II Women's Rowing Championship May 28-30 in Sacramento, California, as a member of the Nova Southeastern University crew.

Meanwhile, sister Lori, a junior at Florida State University, made her mark as part of the equestrian team. She finished 10th overall in the AQHA High Point Western Rider category at the IHSA nationals in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. In doing so, Lori became the first Seminole rider to compete in the national competition this decade.

Community service is all in the genes

Suzi Sutton, a field hockey and basketball student-athlete at Northwestern University, gets more than her athleticism from her mother -- she also inherited her mom's desire to help others.

Suzi watched for years as her mother Vicki Sutton, the head field hockey coach at York College (Pennsylvania), organized the school's "Christmas for the Community" program that encouraged student-athletes to help families during the holiday season. That inspired Suzi to start a similar outreach program at Northwestern.

She organized the "Relay for Life" last month at Northwestern, which netted $100,000 for the American Cancer Society and drew more than 400 participants. More than half of those who took part were Northwestern student-athletes or athletics department staff.

Vicki, who also is involved with the American Cancer Society at York, helped her daughter with the event.

"Helping other people is just the way my mom brought me up," Suzi said. "I'm glad I've been able to take my experiences from home and make an impact here."

-- Compiled by Leilana McKindra

Number crunching

Looking back

Bruins play hardball in softball

The University of California, Los Angeles, captured its 10th Division I Softball Championship May 31 with a 3-1 victory over the University of California, Berkeley, in the final game of the Women's College World Series. With the win, the Bruins became the first team to win back-to-back championships since Arizona did it in 1996-97.

UCLA has now won nine straight WCWS games and improved to 77-23 in the event.

The victory also cemented UCLA's place in Division I softball history as the Bruins have won the Women's College World Series at least four times in each of the past two decades.

UCLA won the WCWS title five times in the 1980s and four in the 1990s. In the new millennium, UCLA has two titles -- in 2003 and 2004.

The Bruins won their first championship in 1982, then again in 1984-85, 1988-90, 1992 and 1999. Additionally, UCLA played in the championship game in 1987, 1991, 1993, 1997, 2000 and 2001.

In the 23 years that the championship has been held, UCLA has appeared in 17 tournament games -- a record for this event. Following UCLA, the schools with the most appearances in the championship game are: the University of Arizona (10), California State University, Fresno (5), and Texas A&M University, College Station (4).

Since 1991, the first year of an all-Pacific-10 Conference WCWS final, 11 of the last 14 championship games have featured two Pac-10 teams. In the history of the WCWS, there have only been two years -- 1983 and 1986 -- when a Pac-10 team was not represented in the championship game.

UCLA also has had three of its players recognized as the most outstanding player of the tournament, with the most recent recipient being Keira Goerl in 2003. The Bruins are tied with Arizona in having three players receive this honor since it was introduced in 1995.