Kauai teen a finalist for
spot on Wheaties box

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For her athletic accomplishments and volunteer community service, Western Washington University sophomore Malie Matsumoto of Kalaheo, Kauai, was selected as one of six finalists from 10,000 applicants in the national Wheaties Energy Crunch Search for Everyday Champions.

Matsumoto, 19, will receive a $2,500 check from General Mills, along with $2,500 that the company will donate to Easter Seals, the charity that she chose. She will appear on the back of the Wheaties Energy Crunch cereal box with the rest of the finalists and the winner will appear on the front of the box, due out in stores in 2002.

Matsumoto came to Western this fall from the University of Hawaii through the National Exchange Program to study speech pathology. During the summer, Matsumoto entered the contest by writing an essay about the inspiration she received from her brother, Kawika, who has congenital brain disease.

Matsumoto was flown to Minneapolis, Minn., and interviewed by General Mills executives. She was notified in late October that she was selected as Hawaii's Everyday Champion for her athletic accomplishments and volunteer service.

An all-state swimmer at Kauai High School, Matsumoto has broken five district records, qualified for four state events and was named Most Valuable Player during her junior and senior years. She volunteered in Hawaii with Easter Seals, the Special Olympics, local hospitals, school reading programs and various food banks, and at Western Washington is involved in the Hui 'O Hawaii club and Circle K.

"It's really important for me to be helpful." Matsumoto said. "There are so many people out there making a difference and it's important that we give back to our community."

Hawaii Pacific beats St. Martins College 65-61

Hawaii Pacific's basketball team knocked off St. Martin's College 65-61 in a nonconference game last night in Lacey, Wash.

Junior guard Nic Walters led the way with 16 points and five assists. The Sea Warriors are 3-2 for the season. St. Martin's fell to 1-4.

HPU's defense was particularly effective on the perimeter, limiting St. Martin's to no 3-pointers in 13 attempts. The Sea Warriors were a woeful 31 percent from the free-throw line in the second half, but did convert on 46 percent of their shots from the field.

Forward Jeff Jensen grabbed a team-high eight rebounds for HPU. Head coach Tony Sellitto picked up his 280th career win. It was also HPU's first victory on the continental United States in the Sea Warriors' last nine tries.

BYUH wins in Alaska

The Brigham Young-Hawaii basketball team broke away from host Alaska-Anchorage with some timely free-throw shooting down the stretch for an 84-76 win last night.

Alexu Foyle hit two of those from the charity stripe to seal the victory with eight seconds left to finish with a game-high 27 points.

BYU-Hawaii raised its record to 4-2. The Seawolves haven't won a game in four tries, including three losses against Division I competition in the recently completed Great Alaska Shootout. The Seasiders play Missouri-Rolla tonight and the Seawolves again tomorrow.

HSJGA's 2001 2-day event begins tomorrow

A field of 52 of Hawaii's top junior golfers between the ages of 7 and 18 tee off in the Hawaii State Junior Golf Association 2001 Tournament of Champions at the Wailea Golf Club tomorrow and Sunday.

Boys and girls will compete separately in four age divisions. The boys field in the 15-18 division includes Jarett Hamamoto, Gabriel Wilson and Reyn Tanaka. Among the 15-18 girls are Ayumi Hori and Michelle Wie. In addition to their junior victories this year, Hamamoto and Wilson competed for the winning amateur team in the John A. Burns competition between the state's top amateurs and professionals.

For more information, call the HSJGA office at 532-0559.

Azinger joins challenge field at Sony Open

Paul Azinger, who won the 1999 Sony Open, will join Tom Lehman in the Sony Open in Hawaii 2002 Pro-Junior Golf Challenge that's replacing the traditional Johnny Bellinger Shoot-out at next year's PGA Tour event.

The challenge, sponsored by First Hawaiian Bank, features six Tour players and six local junior golfers.

For more information about the January 7-13 Sony Open, call 523-7888.

Hawaii's Scott advances in beach volleyball event

Former Punahou and UHstandout Sean Scott and teammate Todd Rogers were the only Association of Volleyball Professionals team from the United States to survive the elimination rounds yesterday during the opening main draw rounds in the 2001 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour season finale on Camburi Beach.

Hawaii's Stein Metzger and Kevin Wong, the United States' top-seeded team in the 32-team double-elimination main draw, won only one of their three matches to place 17th and share $3,000.After defeating a team from Estonia, Metzger and Wong dropped matches to 13th-seeded Dagoberto Dultra Jr. and Paulo Emilio Silva of Brazil and third-seeded Mariano Baracetti and Martin Conde of Argentina.

Kauai's Roberts makes honorable mention

Former Kauai High School volleyball player Heather Roberts was named honorable mention, all-conference in the American Midwest Conference.

She is a freshman setter for the William Woods University (Fulton, Mo.) women's volleyball team.

Honolulu soccer team loses at Surf Cup

The Honolulu Bulls Under-19 girls were eliminated from the Surf Cup Super Group in the semifinal round by the two-time defending national champion Southern Cal Blues in the seventh penalty kick round after a 1-1 tie Sunday.

The Bulls reached the semifinal round by defeating the Surf Cup Girls 2-1 with Mele French and Jillian Nicks scoring, Michigan ODP 2-1 with French and Kayla Oshiro scoring, and the Sereno Eagles, the Arizona champion, 1-0 on Nicks' goal. Nicks also scored in the semifinal match.

The Bulls U-19 team is the first team from Hawaii to be invited to participate in the Surf Cup Super Group.

Top Performers

Scott Prather, Hawaii-Hilo basketball: For the second consecutive week, the 5-foot-11 Vulcans point guard from Kula, Maui, earned Pacific West Conference Player of the Week honors after posting a career performance. In last weekend's Big Island Invitational against NCAA Division I competition, he averaged 21.7 points per game over three contests to lead all scorers and garner all-tournament honors. Prather led Hilo to its first tournament win since 1994, when he hit for 37 points against South Carolina State -- two short of the tournament record.

Nash Subotic, Hawaii Pacific basketball: A deadly shooting performance from this 6-5 gunner out of Belgrade, Yugoslavia, helped the Sea Warriors defeat Liberty last weekend for their first win in their HPU Thanksgiving Classic and coach Tony Sellitto's first victory over a Division I opponent in 19 tries. Subotic outscored the Flames by himself in the first half 20-19 en route to a game-high 31 points.