Shinnick Discovers Comfort on Field

The play was simple yet memorable for Chris Shinnick.

After the Minnesota quarterback fumbled a snap early in the fourth quarter against Hawaii last Saturday at Aloha Stadium, Shinnick scooped up the ball for a two-yard touchdown that helped the Rainbow Warriors pull off a 17-3 upset.

Shinnick, a senior strong safety who had not scored a touchdown since he was a running back at El Camino Real High four years ago, basked in the glory of making such an impact in only his second start at Hawaii.

“It was a fun afternoon of football,” Shinnick said. “That’s the way it should be.”

It was also a catharsis for Shinnick and the Rainbow Warriors, who play host to Cal State Northridge in a nonconference game Saturday night. Six months ago, the team was dealing with tragedy instead of football.

On March 29, the day before Easter, Shinnick and several other people followed teammate Shannon Smith to a remote spot called Waipahee Slippery Slide, on the island of Kauai.

The party included Hawaii’s second-year Coach Fred vonAppen, his wife, Thea, their 6-year-old son, Cody, and quarterback Tim Carey. Smith, a kicker, wanted to show the group the natural water slide he had frequented during childhood.

“It was my second time going over to his house to spend spring break,” Shinnick said.

When they reached the slide, Smith took a head-first test dive, skimming the surface. He then put Cody on his lap and the two plunged in.

Fun turned to chaos and disaster.

Smith and Cody were sucked into a whirlpool and battled to get out as the others tried to rescue them. Smith held Cody afloat and managed to pass him to Thea, who scrambled to safety with her son, but Smith went under.

It took scuba divers 90 minutes to recover Smith’s body from the 20-foot-deep pool, which had been closed to the public for nearly two decades for safety reasons. Smith would have turned 21 three days later.

“It went right from having fun to panic in just a few seconds,” Shinnick said. “My attention was focused on the little boy at first. I thought that if anybody was going to die that day it wouldn’t be a good swimmer like Shannon.”

The accident tugged at Shinnick’s emotions. While the vonAppens and Carey jumped in the water, Shinnick searched for tree branches and anything else that would help pull out everyone.

“The one thing I struggled with for a while was, what if I had gone in and tried to help [Smith]?” Shinnick said. “I felt the Lord stopped me from going in. . . . You hear of so many people who try to do that and end up drowning, too. I’m at peace with my decision.”

Shinnick said he draws strength from his Christian faith to move forward. The Hawaii players who knew Smith, Shinnick said, have dealt with his death in their own way and the team is dedicating the season to his memory. Last Friday, the locker room was renamed after Smith.

Perhaps the ceremonies helped inspire the Rainbow Warriors, who a day later stopped the Golden Gophers for their first season-opening victory since 1993. For Shinnick, a backup on last year’s team that finished 2-10, the moment was long in coming.

“This is what I came out here to do,” said Shinnick, who made eight tackles on Saturday.

Shinnick, 5 feet 11 and 201 pounds, last year transferred to Hawaii from Valley College, where he played free safety in 1994-95 for Jim Fenwick, Northridge’s first-year coach. He got into all of the games last season, starting one at inside linebacker.

This year, Shinnick won the strong safety job after an impressive spring camp.

“The off-season with him was big,” said Mickey Pruitt, Hawaii’s defensive backs coach. “He worked hard to lose weight and improve his speed and quickness. . . . He proved he could play. He knows the system and he knows how to get himself in position to make the plays.”

He also knows Northridge’s run-and-shoot scheme, the same one Fenwick used at Valley, and is looking forward to facing his former coach and some of his former teammates, including quarterback Aaron Flowers. But Shinnick knows he’ll have his work cut out for him.

Last week, in a 63-23 rout of Boise State, Flowers completed 31 of 40 attempts for 442 yards and a Northridge single-game record six touchdowns. Minnesota tried only 27 passes against Hawaii.

“It’s a disciplined offense and it calls for a disciplined defense,” Shinnick said. “We know [Northridge is] for real. It’s not going to be your average [Division] I-AA team coming in here.”

And Shinnick is looking for another solid game. “I knew my time would come,” he said.

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Northridge at Hawaii

What: Nonconference game

When: Saturday, 10 p.m. PDT

Where: Aloha Stadium

Why: Matadors try to win third consecutive game against a Division I-A opponent.