HPU men dominate
first local meetThe Hawaii Pacific men's cross-country team nearly started the season perfect yesterday, winning the Chaminade Invitational at Laie yesterday.
As expected, Christian Madsen and Abdeslam Naji took the first two spots, but their teammates were just as impressive.
Robert Tyler and Harald Buerkle came in third and fourth while Christopher Larson finished sixth. Brigham Young-Hawaii's Thomas Jordan beat Larson to the fifth spot to prevent an HPU sweep.
The Sea Warriors scored 16 points to easily outdistance BYUH (63) for second. Hilo came in third and Chaminade was last.
Manoa women outrun HPU: Hawaii's best runner finished well out of the top spot, but the Rainbow Wahine's depth did in their NCAA II rivals.
HPU's Nina Christensen took the top spot by running the 5K course in 17:58 -- just two seconds ahead of teammate Sayuri Kusutani -- but Hawaii's Victoria Chang (3rd), Hanna Bremler (4th), Jenny Ball (6th), Alethe West (8th) and Jennifer Crumley (10th) outpointed the Sea Warriors 31-37. HPU's Janine Brown (5th) was Hawaii Pacific's only other runner in the Top 10.
Chelsea Smith finished seventh to put BYUH in third, followed by UH-Hilo and Chaminade.
Seasiders still unbeaten after another sweep
Chun Yi Lin knocked down 18 kills and hit .405 to lead Brigham Young-Hawaii to the championship of the Western Washington Invitational at Bellingham, Wash., last night.The Seasiders beat No. 11 Western Washington 30-28, 35-33, 30-23 in the final and UC-Davis 33-31, 30-17, 30-18 in the semifinals.
Lin was picked as the tournament MVP while setter Kaala Lo made the All-Tournament team.
Bown Blocks Netherlands: Heather Bown scored 15 points and accounted for two blocks to help the United States past the Netherlands 25-15, 18-25, 25-17, 21-25, 15-13 in the second round of the World Championships at Reisa, Germany, yesterday.
The win put the U.S. into the elite eight.
Seasiders split in water polo opener
Vanja Kalabic scored four second-half goals to help the Brigham Young-Hawaii water polo team beat No. 19 Air Force at La Jolla, Calif., yesterday.The Seasiders trailed 3-0 at the break before Kalabic brought them back to win 6-3.
BYUH lost its opener earlier in the day when No. 3 Southern California stomped them 13-3.
Islanders' Taylor moves up to AFL
Hawaiian Islanders wide receiver/linebacker Nian Taylor signed a contract with the AFL's New York Dragons today.Taylor is the first Islander to move up, and did so without a tryout. The Dragons only saw a highlight tape and talked to head coach Chad Carlson.
Coaches converge on Quarterback Club
Football will be the theme of the day at tomorrow's Quarterback Club meeting at the Pagoda Restaurant.Hawaii coaches George Lumpkin and Wes Suan will speak, along with St. Louis athletic director Cal Lee and Iolani coach Wendell Look.
The program starts at noon.
Sports talk show debuts on KUMU 2
A sports talk radio show, previewing and reviewing professional, college and high school games makes its debut this weekend on KUMU 2 AM-1500.Co-hosted by Johnny Miro and Scott Kaalele,, SuperBowlTimes.com/Super Sports airs at 6 p.m. Fridays and Sundays through Feb. 2. The show will feature interviews with national and local coaches and players.