Sports Update
Germany’s Dittrick takes
early lead in IronmanWinners will be posted later today
By Pat Bigold
Star-BulletinKONA, Hawaii -- Germany's Wolfgang Dittrich was leading in the 112-mile bike race phase of the 1997 Hawaii Ironman Triathlon World Championship this morning. Dittrich was not the first man to finish the 2.4-mile swim around Kailua Bay but his transition to the bike was quick enough to place him out front.
The first swimmer to emerge was 31-year-old Bruce Gennari of Nashville, Tenn., in 49 minutes and 31 seconds. He was followed by Dittrich and Reiner Caspar of Bonn, Germany, who both finished in 49:33.
The triathlon finishes later in the day with a 26.2-mile marathon-length foot race.
Wendy Ingraham of Walnut Creek, Calif., was the first woman out of the water in a course record 49:52. She finished fifth here last year. She was followed by Ute Mueckel of Germany, last year's seventh-place finisherwho came out in 49:53.
Eight-time women's champion and course record-holder Paula Newby-Fraser of the U.S. and two-time men's runner-up Thomas Hellriegel of Germany were the prerace favorites among about 1,540 competitiors which got officially under way at 7 a.m.
A rare false start marred the swim, affecting many of the elite competitors up front.
An air horn on an escort boat sounded a prerace warning and all of the swimmers in the front section bolted 3 minutes before the scheduled start. The starter screamed frantically for swim marshals on surfboards out ahead of the lead swimmers to grab them.
''Stop them! Stop Them! They won't stop unless you grab them!''
A cannon blast is the official starting sound and the competitors .
It wasn't until the leader approached the first buoy -about 150 yards into the course -that the start was halted by the marshals.
Prior to the false start, the starter was alternating his addresses between swimmers and spectators whose legs were dangling over the side of the seawall behind the starting area. Just before the false start, the starter warned spectators they had to raise their legs off the wall in consideration of NBC-TV production.
It is not known whether or not that confused the swimmers. A race official said that competitors were instructed before the race that the cannon would be the starting sound but he said some other triathons around the world are started by the sound of a horn.
PROVO, Utah -- There's something about the University of Hawaii that brings out the worst in Brigham Young University. Hawaii hangs tough against BYU
Despite the Rainbows' well-documented woes away from home - Willie Nelson's worst version of ''On The Road Again sounds like a Mozart opera by comparison - BYU couldn't put away Hawaii until deep into the fourth quarter.
Granted, the Rainbows kept it closer than the oddsmakers predicted, but the 17-3 loss to the Cougars before a crowd of 64,558 was the Rainbows' 19th consecutive Western Athletic Conference road defeat over the last five years.
What made it worse, the Rainbows had plenty of chances to win it, only to let a bevy of penalties and mental mistakes keep them from realizing one of the biggest upsets of the season.
Hawaii has now gone without a touchdown four times in seven road games in vonAppen's short regime. In fact, the Rainbows have been outscored 303-33 in its last eight road games.
They entered the arena dressed as Batman and Robin and never took the capes off. Midnight Ohana enjoys
antics of Dynamic DuoSenior guards AC Carter and Alika Carter, the University of Hawaii's Dynamic Backcourt Duo, had the Rainbows off and flying early Saturday morning during the first official practice of the season. Gotham City -- and Hawaii basketball -- may never be the same.
An overflowing Midnight Ohana crowd of 10,500 at the Special Events Arena were kept wide-eyed and wide awake from the stroke of midnight on. It began with two stretch limos carrying the Rainbow and Wahine teams into the arena and ended with Ales Zivanovic's short jumper that finished the Green's 79-45 victory over the White.
In between, there was plenty of show and showmanship. Launching the excitement was newcomer Erin "Helicopter" Galloway, whose leapfrog dunk over manager Matt Brummel scored off the charts with the the panel of judges.
Defending dunk champion Carter nearly pulled out the repeat with an assist from Smith, who tossed the ball down from the concourse. It was a spectacular connection - and a promise of things to come.
"This was a lot of fun," said Carter, the senior all-American who's up for the Wooden Player of the Year Award. "I was surprised by how big the crowd was.
Big victories are becoming standard fare for the Campbell Sabers. But that doesn't mean they aren't savored. Campbell downs Farrington,
14-7, wins top seed in OIA"After the game the kids didn't seem all that excited. The championship is big to them, because they worked really hard for it," coach Darren Hernandez said. "But I think they've got larger goals than the Red Conference championship."
The Sabers earned that title -- and the top seed in the Oahu Interscholastic Association playoffs that goes with it --by beating Farrington, 14-7, Friday night at Campbell.
Campbell, coming off a huge victory at Waianae last week, used rock-hard defense again in stopping the Governors and finishing its conference schedule at 5-1. Farrington, which will also go to the OIA playoffs, finished at 2-3-1.
"We deserve to be called the best because we beat the best," Hernandez said. "If it wasn't for a tipped pass against Leilehua, we'd be undefeated."
In addition to Campbell and Waianae, the following teams have clinched OIA playoff berths:
Waianae, Leilehua, Waipahu, Castle, Roosevelt, McKinley, Kahuku, Kaiser, Moanalua, Nanakuli, Mililani, and Kalaheo.
Aiea and Kailua from the White Conference and Kalani and Pearl City from the Blue are in contention for the final two spots.
Waianae 58, Waipahu 20: At Waianae, West Keliikipi rushed for 239 yards on 15 carries as the Seariders compiled 622 yards in total offense against the Marauders.
Waianae completed its Red Division schedule at 5-1, while Waipahu finished at 3-3. Both teams advance to next weekend's playoffs.
The Seariders rushed for 465 yards, with Kamuela Black carrying seven times for 115 yards and three touchdowns, and Mose Tiolu three times for 97 yards and a TD.
Kahuku improved to 6-0 and won the White Conference title. McKinley is 5-1.
Manumaleuna plunged in from 2 yards out with about three minutes left in the game and the Red Raiders made a two-point conversion as R.T. Thompson passed to Jospeh Fotu.
That proved crucial as the Tigers came right back and scored on a 4-yard run by Dae Kyung Kwon with 1:08 to play. McKinley went for the tie and kicked the point-after, but their successful attempt was nullified by a penalty.
The Tigers moved back five yards, tried another kick for the tie, but this one sailed sailed to the left of the uprights.
McKinley had taken a 14-0 lead on a touchdown pass from Jonathan Mostella to Charlie Napuloa and a Mostella scoring run.
Kahuku came back behind the running of Talamoni Tamamoni, who finished with 146 yards on 22 carries; Timmy Welch-Ornellas, who had 91 yards on 14 carries and a 27-yard touchdown run, and Manumaleuna, who also had a 15-yard TD run.
Tanabe's kick came at 7:14 of the fourth quarter, as Moanalua (3-3) turned back a stubborn Radford team (0-6).
The Rams made a game of it when James Ioane blocked a punt that was recoverd on the Moanalua 1-yard line, setting up a touchdown run by Melvin Frye. John Kasl's point-after kick tied the game with 11:11 to play.
After Tanabe's field goal gave them the lead, the Menehunes put the game away when Corey Smith returned a fumble 27 yards for a touchdown with 3:17 left.
Moanalua had 80 yards rushing on nine carries from Jeremy Harper, who scored on a 57-yard run in the first period.
