Reunion to Take Place

Laie, HI—A Brigham Young University Hawaii men’s tennis team from the past is set to visit the school’s Laie campus this coming week for a reunion with longtime Seasider Coach Dave Porter.  Many of the players from the 1991 team that finished second nationally in NAIA play will return to Laie Thanksgiving weekend for a reunion that will include tennis, golf, and a Seasider basketball game.

The team members plan to take to the tennis courts on Friday morning to scrimmage with players from the current Seasider squad.  A golf outing to Turtle Bay is also planned for the weekend and the former stars will watch the Seasiders’ men’s basketball team take on Oakland City on Saturday evening.

Coach Porter said he is excited to see the players that are coming.  They include Yue Wang from Beijing, China, who was the first player in Hawaii history to win an individual singles national championship.  Also coming is K.P. Balaraj from Madras, India who was a BYU–Hawaii valedictorian, the A.O. Duer Award winner as the top student/athlete in the NAIA {any sport/any gender), and the first and only non-American to receive an internship in the White House.

Other attendees will be Dean Zimmermann, from London, Ontario, Canada, who was the first BYU–Hawaii tennis recruit having been the top ranked junior player in his country, Dan Cullen from London, Ontario, Canada who hails from a famous National Hockey League family, Mark Merrill, from Maui, now living in Phoenix, Arizona, who was the top-ranked high school player from Maui, Rafi Farooqui, from Hydrabad, India, now living outside New York City, Gordon Hammond, from Canada and England, now living in Las Vegas, Nevada, Jon Tammela, from Markham, Ontario, Canada, now a doctor living in Florida, Nathan Herbert of Orem, Utah, whose father is Utah's Governor, Danny Shantakumar, now living in Provo, Utah, and Ted Johnson, now living in San Diego, California.

Pictured below:  Members of the 1991 team