Todd Iacovelli and Lauren Dignam already have experienced Division I athletic competition and even earned degrees from their respective institutions.

But planning for their futures and passion for athletics have them competing at Hawai'i Pacific University this season.

Iacovelli, a 2002 Punahou graduate, lettered three years in cross country at the University of Michigan. Since he redshirted as a freshman he is eligible to compete for the Sea Warriors.

Iacovelli earned economics and psychology degrees at Michigan, and is pursing his master's in business administration at HPU.

Dignam, a 2002 Iolani graduate, is with the HPU women's soccer team after lettering four years in track and field at the University of Washington.

She earned a sociology degree from Washington and is pursing her master's in secondary education at HPU.

Both have made an impact for HPU in their final seasons of college eligibility.

Iacovelli has won all four races he has competed in this season — two 8K events, one 6K and one 5K.

On Saturday, he won the 8K BYU-Hawai'i Invitational in 25 minutes, 48 seconds.

"Now he's finally taking off," said HPU cross country coach Christian Friis.

Dignam, a forward, scored two goals and had an assist as HPU beat Chaminade, 5-0, on Saturday for its first win of the season.

"Track is just running and not any kind of ball skills. It's slowly starting to come back," she said.

TOUGH ROAD

Iacovelli is quickly putting a rough four years at Michigan behind him.

During winter break of his freshman year, he returned home and contracted leptospirosis — a bacterial infection contracted from contaminated water or soil — after swimming in Kapena Falls.

"There were no signs up at the time; I didn't have any cuts," Iacovelli said. "It's one of those things you're talking to your friends, 'No one ever gets it, it's not a big deal.' I went jumping in."

He said his liver and kidneys weren't working properly, and he was hospitalized for a few days. He made a full recovery, and redshirted his freshman year.

During his three years of competing, Iacovelli said he had knee, shin, calf and Achilles tendon injuries.

He said the increased training in college — 70 to 90 miles a week — was the main reason for the injuries. The actual race distances were 8K and 10K.

At Punahou, he ran 35 to 40 miles a week. He won the cross country state title his junior year, and the 1,500- and 3,000-meter state titles his junior and senior years.

"I was lucky in high school to have a coach who understood my body," Iacovelli said. "His name is Duncan Macdonald."

Iacovelli, who lives in Kailua, said he's enjoying competing again.

"I really like my teammates, we're kind of like from all over the place," Iacovelli said. "Everyone shows up wanting to work hard together, which is the exact attitude you need to get a good cross country team."

Friis, who ran for HPU from 1998 to 2000, said Iacovelli has already established himself as the team leader.

"It's mostly just because of the way he is, not who he is; not because of his reputation," Friis said. "He's really the nicest teammate you can ever have and the best runner-student you can have as a coach."

As for his education, Iacovelli said his degree from Michigan focused mostly on theory, and he wants to learn more about the accounting, finance and marketing areas while at HPU.

Iacovelli, who hopes to earn his MBA in 18 months, also said he wants to make local business contacts while in school.

KICKIN' IT

For Dignam, it was all about good timing.

The HPU women's soccer team was elevated from club level to NCAA Division II status this year, and the school recently started a master's program in secondary education.

According to HPU coach Mark Kane, Dignam is eligible because: "In Division II you have 10 semesters of competition. Because she's still within the 10 semesters limit, she can play one more year of sports but not track."

She joined the team in late August, after HPU had begun training.

"I wasn't expecting to be playing soccer again," said Dignam, the Interscholastic League of Honolulu player of the year in soccer her senior year. "Coach Kane called and asked if I wanted to play, and I decided to play."

Kane said Dignam, who won five gold medals at the 2002 state track championships, provides speed up top.

The Sea Warriors were shut out in their first two matches before Saturday's breakthrough.

"It was exciting, a nice feeling," Dignam said. "We hadn't scored all season. It was nice things came together for us."

Kane has known Dignam for more than 10 years because she and Malia Kane, the coach's daughter and defender/midfielder on this year's team, played for the same HYSA club.

"We knew Lauren from when she lived in Kane'ohe. She and my daughter both had played since they were like 10 years old," Kane said.

In the victory over Chaminade, Dignam scored in the 28th minute off an assist from Malia Kane. Dignam scored again three minutes into the second half and assisted on Rachele Bakic's goal in the 82nd minute.

Notes: Dignam and Iacovelli ran together for the Kailua A.A. track program as youths. ... Dignam holds the UW record in the 400-meter dash with a time of 54.31 seconds. She broke her own record as a senior at a dual meet with Washington State on April 29. ... Iacovelli was a four-time member of the All-Big Ten Academic Team. ... Despite injuries, he set personal bests in the 3,000 (8:22) and 5,000 (14:23) while at Michigan.

Reach Kyle Sakamoto at ksakamoto@honoluluadvertiser.com.