Cheryl Smith led the Hawaii women's cross country team to a win at the Hawaii Invitational at the Marine Corps Air Station in Kaneohe yesterday. Smith ran the five kilometers in 17:58.2. Smith, Hawaii run
past island foesSmith won the race by seven seconds over Nina Christensen of Hawaii Pacific, with Sea Warriors Lisa Blomme and Sayuri Kusutani taking third and fourth places, respectively.
Hawaii's Casey McGuire-Turcotte easily took the fifth spot, enabling the Wahine to outscore Hawaii Pacific 35-55. Brigham Young-Hawaii placed third with 76 points.
"As a team it feels really great to win," Smith said. "This is my third time here, so it feels good to have three races under my belt. I feel we'll have an advantage more now at the WAC Championships, having had the chance to race the course, we'll be able to visualize it in our heads."
Christian Madsen won the men's 5K in a swift 15:55.9, outrunning teammate Abdeslam Naji by 42 seconds. Hawaii Pacific won the team competition as easily as Madsen won the individual race, outpointing Hawaii-Hilo and BYUH, who tied for second, 33-86.
The next race for the local college programs is Sept. 29 in Kaneohe at the Hawaii Pacific Invitational.
"We're expected to run fast on this course, not just because it's a fast one, but because we did have our three weeks of hard training, and this last week was a recovery week," James said. "We have another block of hard training for the next three weeks, so I expect everyone to be staying fresh, being healthy, running faster times, and being able to peak at the right times. Our goal for the WAC Championships is to place in the top three."
HPU wins 38th straight volleyball match
Hawaii Pacific won its 38th consecutive volleyball match last night, knocking off Montana State-Billings 30-20, 30-25, 30-21 in a Pacific West Conference match.The Sea Warrors are 10-0 for the season and 4-0 in conference play. They had to win the last six points of the fifth game to keep their streak alive Friday night, but had no such problems in the second meeting.
HPU outside hitter Roberta Robert led all player with 17 kills. Middle blocker Andrea Wean had 16 kills with a match-high hitting percentage of .424.
Hawaii-Hilo loses in New Mexico again
Western New Mexico University women's volleyball team knocked off Hawaii-Hilo yesterday for the second consecutive night 30-27, 31-29, 27-30, 30-28.The Mustangs are 8-6 overall and 2-0 in the Pacific West Conference. The Vulcans fell to 5-7, 0-4.
"We just had another night of good volleyball from the girls," Western New Mexico coach Jim Callender said. "We came out with intensity, and I was kind of concerned before the game because we beat them on Friday night. But we were all business once the game started.
Elaina Salvador led Hilo with 13 kills, while Tiffany Ollison had 19 digs. WNMU's Kim Tano and Dana Dietrich had 11 kills each.Western New Mexico hosts No. 1 Hawaii Pacific tomorrow and Tuesday, while Hilo travels to Montana State-Billings.
Hawaii's Own
Mike Fetters, Pirates: The Iolani graduate did not pitch in Pittsburgh's 4-1 loss to St. Louis.Chris Truby, Astros: The Damien alumnus struck out with a man on as a pinch hitter in the sixth inning of Houston's 8-4 win over the Chicago Cubs.