Kapolei Water Polo Talent Just As Strong On Dry Land
By Jack Danilewicz
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ive a.m. comes quickly. It always does, but what Ashlie Salas-Selem notices the most when she begins her drives from Kapolei to the Chaminade University campus on weekdays is the lack of light.
“I’m still in the sleep mode,” she said. “The sun’s not up yet.”
At exactly 6 o’clock, she greets Chaminade cross country coach Masako Sagawa and the rest of her teammates to begin that day’s two-hour practice. With classes until 5 p.m., time with the athletic trainer and more studying, Salas-Selem doesn’t return to Kapolei until “hopefully by 8.” The next morning, she does it all over again.
But while her new running routine gives her an early jolt, she wouldn’t have it any other way. “I like it a lot,” she said. “I like being outdoors and running through parks and trails I’ve never heard of.”
Coming out of Kapolei High School, Salas-Selem was one of the top recruits in the state in water polo. Playing alongside fellow Division I college recruit Nicole Hagi, Salas-Selem was an adept goal scorer, tallying an OIA-best 43 goals her junior year. By the league playoffs of her senior year, she’d already scored 40.
She accepted a scholarship to Siena College in Loudonville, N.Y., along with Hagi, but elected to return to Hawaii after one year. “I enjoyed the team - Nicole still plays there - but I couldn’t stand the cold and being away from home,” she said. “My mom was also pregnant with my younger brother, so I wanted to come home and help out.”
Academically, she was looking for a smaller setting, which made Chaminade an ideal choice. Salas-Selem still plays water polo in the summer at Central Oahu Regional Park, but Chaminade doesn’t have women’s water polo, so she knew she wouldn’t be able to continue it in college.
“I put that aside,” she said. “Education comes first. My basic choices were UH, Chaminade and HPU. I knew I needed a school with smaller class sizes. Class sizes here are great. It’s home.”
Enter cross country. Salas-Selem had never run cross country or track, concentrating on competitive swimming when not playing water polo.“I always saw myself playing a college sport, and I was looking around when I came to Chaminade,” she said. “I noticed they were recruiting for cross country, and it was the only sport I felt comfortable with (as a newcomer).”
Except for a nagging ham-string injury, it has been a smooth transition to cross country, for the most part. “It’s a new concept. Actually, feeling tired and sweaty was very new, and having to buy shoes, of course. I didn’t know there were so many.”
“She’s been doing great,” said Sagawa. “She’s probably the fastest girl on the team when she’s healthy.” At the UH Big Wave Invitational last month, Salas-Selem finished the 4K race with a team-best time of 18:04.
Interviewed during a 14-day break between races, she expected to be back at full strength early this week. She and the Silverswords leave Thursday for San Francisco to participate in the Pacific West Conference Championships Friday and Saturday at Golden Gate Park.
Scheduled to graduate in the spring of 2011, SalasSelem envisions teaching special education in her future. Her first job was teaching swim lessons. She’s taught special education in summer school and worked in the A-Plus program.
She also has returned to Kapolei High to coach under Hurricane head coach Dexter Lee. Entering the coaching ranks, she admits, has given her a new perspective on coaches. “I’m very disappointed now that I had some days as a player when I didn’t listen to my coach,” she laughed. “It can be very frustrating, but it’s been fun.”
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