Showdown.
De Morales, her dad
and brother leave Friday
for the U.S. Olympic
Trials, set for June 21-27
at Colorado Springs.
She would need to
go 4-for-4 in the sin-
gle-elimination
165-
pound weight class to
secure a spot on Olympic
team and join Claressa
Shields, who’s already on
it. Shields, also 5-10 and
in the 165-pound weight
class, won gold at the
2012 London Games.
There’s
anoth-
er Olympic Trials in
September in Baltimore.
In
October
in
Tennessee, the Olympic
finalists will meet in
a box-off called the
Pathway to the Podium
for the No. 1 seed on the
U.S. team.
De Morales would pre-
fer not to attend a sec-
ond trials because USA
Boxing, the governing
organization, doesn’t dish
out a dime until boxers
make the national team.
After Waiakea, De
Morales earned a bas-
ketball
scholarship
to Prescott College in
Arizona, and another one
to Cal State Dominguez
Hills.
She graduated in
December of 2014 with
a degree in kinesiology,
and returned home to
start training full-time.
In
between,
De
Morales has fought in
Toughman kickboxing
and mixed martial arts
events while home from
college on breaks.
In 2013, Olympic box-
ing regulations under-
went a drastic change.
There will be no head-
gear, and judging cri-
teria will be a pro-style
10-point system.
Previously, a comput-
er punch-count system
was used that empha-
sized punch volume
over technique and ring
dominance.
Clocking someone with
a one-punch knockout is
a style of preference for
De Morales, who made
a name for herself as a
kickboxer and MMA
fighter for her stand-up
skills.
“I love the new rules.
It’s about aggression,
power and effort, just like
the pros,” she said. “I plan
to give it my all and go
out there and brawl.
“Even when I was in
MMA, I preferred stand-
up. I didn’t like rolling
around on the ground. I
wanted to stand-up and
finish. That’s my skill-set.”
She fights out of the
Hawaii
International
Boxing Club, run by
coach Sergio Mamone,
who credits his assistant
and De Morales’ dad for
her development.
“She wants to try the
Olympics then go back
to school for her mas-
ters and be a specialist in
biomechanics,” Mamone
said. “She’s tall for a girl
and she has a deadly
straight right.
“Her success is a credit
to her dad. Her dad is the
one who has made her
into what she is now. He’s
the one who’s created a
little beast.”
Once
long
ago,
Mamone was an MMA
fighter known as Da
Monsta, a 5-5 heavy-
weight who knocked foes
nearly twice as tall.
He knows all about
big trees taking a fall.
Mamone’s advice to
counter shorter oppo-
nents: don’t stand tall
and give someone a clean
shot.
“I have to drop a little
low, keep my guard up
and use my reach to my
advantage,” De Morales
said. “I have the reach
of someone who’s 6 feet,
so that works out for
me. I can’t wait and I’m
confident.”
To help De Morales
with a contribution or
donate airline miles,
email teamhi@yahoo.
com or contact Mamone
onInstagramorFacebook
or call 854-0853.
collegiate programs in this
corner of the country.
Washington is one of
those programs and will
have three alums: Troy
Kelly, Richard Lee and
Cheng-Tsung Pan teeing
off on Thursday.
“As much as we love
our golf community it’s
not a deep golf commu-
nity as a lot of the oth-
ers around the country,”
Washington golf coach
Matt Thurmond said. “I
think that’s really chang-
ing and I’ve always felt
that it could change and
should change.”
Thurmond will be car-
rying the bag for Pan,
who was the individual
runner-up at the NCAA
Championships before
winning his sectional
qualifier. Kelly and Lee
earned the other two
spots from that section-
al event at Tumble Creek
about two hours east of
Chambers Bay.
Kelly, who can see
Chambers Bay from
his house in nearby
Steilacoom, Washington,
turned pro in 2003, while
Lee went pro in 2010. The
U.S. Open will be the pro-
fessional debut for Pan.
“This climate and these
conditions produce good
golf,” Thurmond said.
“You tend to become a
product of what you do
all the time and playing
in these conditions — not
talking about weather,
I’m talking ground condi-
tions, how the ball flies —
it produces good golfers.”
ROUND
TWO:
Masters champion Jordan
Spieth knows he is the
only player capable of
winning the calendar
Grand Slam because “you
have to win the first one.”
Only three players dat-
ing to 1960 — Arnold
Palmer, Jack Nicklaus
and Tiger Woods — have
won the Masters and U.S.
Open in the same year.
And there’s a reason for
that. But even if he were
to simply contend on the
back nine Sunday, Spieth
would join some elite
company.
In the last 25 years, only
three players who won the
Masters had a chance to
add the second leg of the
Grand Slam.
Nick Faldo in 1990 fin-
ished one shot out of play-
off at the Medinah.
Woods won the U.S.
Open at Bethpage Black
in 2002, and he was
runner-up to Michael
Campbell at Pinehurst
No. 2 in 2005.
Phil Mickelson was
runner-up at Shinnecock
Hills in 2004. He was run-
ner-up at Winged Foot in
2006. And after his third
Masters title in 2010,
he finished three shots
behind GraemeMcDowell
at Pebble Beach.
EAGER
TO
GET
GOING:
The U.S. Open
is in the Pacific Northwest
for the first time in its
120-year history, and it
shows.
Not so much by ticket
sales. The U.S. Open typ-
ically is a sellout.
The best measure is the
volunteers.
USGA president Tom
O’Toole said it usual-
ly takes anywhere from
three weeks to three
months to sign up some
5,200 volunteers needed
at the U.S. Open. The list
for Chambers Bay was
filled out in 36 hours.
EURO
SUCCESS
:
Four of the past five
U.S. Open champions
have come from Europe,
beginning with Graeme
McDowell’s victory in
2010 at Pebble Beach that
ended a 40-year drought
for Europeans.
There’s no one reason
for the uptick in European
champions, but Rory
McIlroy, the 2011 winner
at Congressional, believes
it can be tied to Europe’s
success in the Ryder Cup,
winning six of the seven
matches since 2002.
“I think it’s given
Europeans the confidence
to come over here and
compete, three of the four
major championships are
in this country,” McIlroy
said. “And most likely
you’re competing against
players that you compete
against at the Ryder Cup.
So I think having that
success in the Ryder Cup
has translated into major
victories for European
players.”
DIVOTS
:
Michael
Greller, the caddie for
Jordan Spieth, thought
a standard bearer looked
familiar in their practice
round group. Turns out
she was a freshman on
the Curtis High golf team
that he coached before
going to work for Spieth.
The girl now is a senior.
Greller was a sixth-grade
math teacher up taking a
leave of absence to work
for Spieth at the start of
the 2013 season.
THURSDAY, JUNE 18, 2015 | WEST HAWAII TODAY
SPORTS
2B
OPEN:
Four of last five champs
have come from Europe
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1B
The course:
Chambers Bay is a
public course located south of
Seattle along the Puget Sound
on what used to be a sand and
gravel pit that first was mined
in the late 19th century. Once
the mining stopped in 2001,
the county decided to use the
land for recreation, including a
golf course built specifically to
attract a U.S. Open.
Length:
Course will play
between 7,300 and 7,700 yards
each day.
Par
: 70 (36-34 or 35-35)
Cut
: Top 60 and ties after 36
holes.
Playoff (if necessary
): 18 holes
on June 22.
Field
: 156 players (140 pros, 16
amateurs).
Purse
: $10 million.
Defending champion:
Martin
Kaymer.
Noteworthy
: In the past 25
years, the only Masters cham-
pions in Sunday contention at
the U.S. Open were Nick Faldo
(1990),Tiger Woods (2002,
2005) and Phil Mickelson
(2004, 2006, 2010).
ATA GLANCE
honor those who have promoted
and supported athletics islandwide.
“We’ll pick from whoever nom-
inates,” he said. “If people from
Kona don’t nominate, we can’t pick
them.”
The BISHOF inducted seven
members in its 13th class four
years ago, but Chang envisioned a
scenario where classes were select-
ed every two years with approxi-
mately eight members.
He said some members’ pic-
tures were damaged or destroyed
in storage, but they’ve either been
refurbished or in some cases family
members provided new photos.
A book and website detailing
hall members is in the works.
The organization is accepting
contributions at
com, or they can be sent to Big
Island Sports Hall of Fame, 969
Kinoole St., Hilo, HI 96720.
Nominators are asked to send a
two-page write-up of the nominee’s
background, accomplishments and
contributions to the community
with an 8-inch by 10-inch picture,
color preferred.
HALL:
Book and website detailing hall members is in the works
BOXING:
Made a name for herself as a kickboxer and MMA fighter
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1B
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1B
NFL
Browns’ Manziel says
‘Johnny Football’ overtook him
BEREA,
Ohio
—
Johnny Football became
more
than
Johnny
Manziel could handle.
“It just overtook who
I was as a person,” the
Browns quarterback said
Wednesday.
Speaking to the media
for the first time since
spending 10 weeks in a
rehab facility, the polar-
izing Manziel said he’s
hoping to move past a
regrettable chapter in
his life. While he didn’t
divulge the reasons for
his stay in a Pennsylvania
substance-abuse facility,
Manziel acknowledged
he got caught up trying
to live up to a persona he
helped create.
“I think at times
Johnny Football probably
took over me a little bit
and I bought into that,”
Manziel said following
the team’s secondmanda-
tory mini-camp practice.
“I didn’t do my best to
hush things down, push
down the hype. At times I
welcomed it with imma-
turity and just accepted
that a little bit — and
that’s my fault.”
One of the changes the
former Heisman Trophy
winner
from
Texas
A&M intends to make is
scrapping his trademark
money sign, when he
rubs his fingers together
after a big play.
“The money sign will
not be back,” he said. “I
will not be making it out
there.”
Manziel opened his
remarks by thanking
reporters for respect-
ing his privacy and he
acknowledged Browns
coach Mike Pettine,
owner Jimmy Haslam
and others with the
Browns who “helped me
out through a difficult
time.”
The 22-year-old didn’t
duck any questions and
he reiterated that he was
the one responsible for
“a disaster” of a rookie
season in the NFL.
“At the end of the day,
everything that hap-
pened last year is not on
anybody else but myself,”
said Manziel, who made
two starts last season. “I
guess I wasn’t prepared
to handle the type of
spotlight that I got, and
all the hype that came
with it.”
Manziel will enter
training camp next
month in the same place
he was last summer —
as a backup. He’s now
behind Josh McCown on
Cleveland’s depth chart,
and there’s no guarantee
Manziel will ever become
a starter.
But while his future on
the field remains cloudy,
Manziel said he’s taking
the necessary steps in
his personal life to be a
better, more dependable
professional.
He recently moved
from his downtown
Cleveland apartment to
a golf community on the
city’s west side. It’s one
of the changes he’s made
to resist any temptations
and improve his image as
a spoiled party kid.
“I think I’ve done a
good job throughout this
offseason of really trying
to get back to my roots
and who I really am as a
person,” he said.
Manziel regrets being
a distraction last season,
when he became a social
media phenomenon as
photos of him in Las
Vegas or floating in a pool
while swigging cham-
pagne went viral. There
were other issues, includ-
ing a scrape with a fan
in his hotel lobby and a
fine for oversleeping and
missing treatment after
he was injured.
Looking back, Manziel
wishes he would have
acted differently. He’s
been selfish, irresponsible
— not a good teammate.
“I feel bad about that
throughout the last
months of my life, really
thinking back and seeing
how much of my life out-
side of this field and out-
side of this locker room
was documented,” he
said. “It’s not fair for Joe
Haden to be having to
answer questions about
me every day. It’s not fair
for Joe Thomas and all
these guys to just con-
tinue to have questions
asked about me. I don’t
think that’s fair at all
and I don’t want that on
them.”
Manziel is doing all he
can to look ahead, what’s
behind him is too painful,
too embarrassing.
“I’m trying to close that
chapter in my life — not
one that I’m very proud
of,” he said.
Manziel insists his pri-
orities are in order. He
claims to be more focused
and dedicated to his craft.
He’s talked a good game
before, but this time he
says he intends to match
his intentions.
“Actions speak way
louder than words,”
he said. “I’m doing the
right things and taking
the right steps necessary
for me to put myself in
the best position possible
to be exactly what this
organization drafted me
to be.”
“I’m not giving up on
the fact that they brought
me in here as a first-
round pick and want to
see something out of me,”
he said. “That’s not lost
on me, and hopefully not
on the people in this lock-
er room, either.”
BY TOMWITHERS
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Cleveland Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel puts on his helmet during
minicamp on Wednesday
.
DAVID RICHARD/
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Jordan Spieth hits a chip on the 16th hole
during a practice round for the U.S. Open on
Wednesday
.
CHARLIE RIEDEL/
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
