Beau Yokomoto of the Pearl Country Club fired an opening round 4-under-par 68 yesterday to lead the Mid-Pacific Open golf championships at the Mid-Pacific Country Club. Yokomoto fires a 68 to
lead Mid-Pac Open by oneOne stroke back at 69 was Hilo's Lance Taketa.
Two shots behind Yokomoto were Mark Chapleski and Phillip Chun. At 71 are Mark Takahama and Keith Kollmeyer. At even par 72 were Kevin Hayashi, Michael Pavao, Casey Nakama, Larry Stubblefield and Michael Ukauka. Defending champion Greg Meyer is at 73.
The top pro will win $5,000.
The finals are set for Sunday, with the leaders teeing off at 9:30 a.m.
UH WATER POLO TEAM NO. 7: After finishing seventh in the league tournament last weekend, the University of Hawaii women's water polo team dropped three places to No. 7 in this week's national poll.
The Wahine, 24-8 in their inaugural season, will compete in the April 24-26 Western Regional Qualifying Tournament at Stanford's DeGuerre Pool. The field includes all 10 teams from the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation plus UC Davis, UC San Diego and Washington.
The top seven teams from the regional qualify for the national championship tournament May 8-10 at USC. Also advancing will be two teams from the Midwest Region and three teams from the East Region.
ASICS TAKES THREE TITLES: The ASICS Rainbows Volleyball Club won three of the four division championships in its recent spring tournament at Klum Gym.
The ASICS 18's, paced by Minnesota recruit Lindsey Berg, defeated Players Sport of Utah, led by future Rainbow Wahine Adrienne Bradley, for that division title.
The ASICS 15's and 14's also topped their divisions. In the 12's, E Ala Mai of the Big Island beat Jammers Shaka in the final.
HIGH FINISH FOR HOOPSTERS: The Hawaii National Junior Basketball All Stars, Division 3 (age 10 and under) took second place in the 14th annual National Tournament at Fullerton, Calif., April 4-5.
Team members include Carson Chun, John Duro, Marc Factora, Bryant Hirai, David Johnson, Sean Lee, Spencer McLachlin, Joshua Omura, Jeremiah Ostrowski, Tyler Tsukazaki, J.C. Wo and Trenton Zane. The coaches were Matt Tsukazaki, Denis Lee and Brian Zane.
KARATE STANDOUTS: Hawaii's Shawna Carino won the Kata and Kumite gold medals in her female advanced 16-17 group at the recent International Traditional Karate Championship meet at Bally's Hotel in Las Vegas.
Justin Oshiro of Hawaii earned a Kumite (sparring) silver medal in the male advanced 16-17 division and Ryan Zukeran of Hawaii took a Kumite bronze medal in the male advanced 12-14 class.
OVA TOURNAMENT: The Oahu Volleyball Association is sponsoring beach doubles volleyball tournaments this weekend at Queens Surf Beach.
The men's open event is tomorrow, the women's open and men's A tournament Sunday. Registration is from 8:30-9:15 a.m. each day with play immediately following.
Registration is $10 in advance, $15 the day of the event. For more information, call Paul McCurdy at 833-8839.